Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 1,100 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 58,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $1,517,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COLB. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 175,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,583,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.3% in the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 261,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,068,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 14.0% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Columbia Banking System by 2.9% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 25,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the period. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 85.1% during the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COLB opened at $28.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.47. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.08 and a fifty-two week high of $29.41.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 15.94% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The firm had revenue of $765.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $478.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.05%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on COLB. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.12.

Columbia Banking System Company Profile

Columbia Banking System, Inc operates as the holding company of Umpqua Bank that provides banking, private banking, mortgage, and other financial services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business, non-interest bearing checking, interest-bearing checking and savings, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts; and insured cash sweep and other investment sweep solutions.