Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. Purchases 4,712 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 53.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,712 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $366,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter worth about $65,249,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Columbia Banking System by 31.9% in 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 buying an additional 1,611,563 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 158.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,851,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,001,000 after buying an additional 1,134,544 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter worth $22,476,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 33.1% in the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COLB opened at $20.78 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $26.05 and its 200-day moving average is $27.45. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.08 and a 52 week high of $32.85. The company has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 0.53.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.93%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 56.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COLB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total value of $116,461.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,725,545.31. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

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.