Quest Partners LLC Invests $683,000 in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 26,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $683,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 85.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 144.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 111.5% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Columbia Banking System by 137,166.7% in the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 4,115 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COLB opened at $31.64 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.78 and a 200-day moving average of $23.79. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a one year low of $17.08 and a one year high of $31.86. The company has a market capitalization of $6.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 0.62.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $765.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $478.80 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.13% and a net margin of 16.15%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.55%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. 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. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.12.

Columbia Banking System 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.