American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 61,242 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,602,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 61,242 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $205,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 62.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 171.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 36.8% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 22,244.4% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 6,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 6,006 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

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

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

COLB opened at $24.72 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $26.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.45. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.08 and a 52 week high of $32.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a PE ratio of 9.73 and a beta of 0.62.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. Equities analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.