Atria Investments Inc Reduces Stock Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Atria Investments Inc lowered its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,591 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 31.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,659,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,611,563 shares during the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 3rd quarter worth $26,593,000. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1,001.8% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 962,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,126,000 after acquiring an additional 874,986 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 33.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,263,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,099,000 after acquiring an additional 562,467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 98.6% during the 3rd quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 944,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,657,000 after acquiring an additional 468,832 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.25.

Insider Activity at Columbia Banking System

In related news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total transaction of $116,461.19. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,725,545.31. This represents a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Columbia Banking System Stock Down 0.4 %

Columbia Banking System stock opened at $23.94 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.46. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.08 and a twelve month high of $32.85. The company has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a PE ratio of 9.43 and a beta of 0.62.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.02%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 56.69%.

About Columbia Banking System

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.