Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 5,644 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Bessemer Group Inc. lessened its position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 74.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,644 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $52,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 62.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Columbia Banking System

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. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COLB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $35.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays lowered their price target on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.00.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

COLB opened at $22.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.73 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.11. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.46 and a twelve month high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.69%.

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.