Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Stake Lessened by Simplicity Solutions LLC

Simplicity Solutions LLC cut its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,378 shares during the period. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 37,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.2% in the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 16,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 91,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,853,000 after buying an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 27.2% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 1.6% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 33,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $688,000 after buying an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Columbia Banking System

In related news, VP Christopher Merrywell purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $21.09 per share, for a total transaction of $105,450.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 50,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,832.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Columbia Banking System news, VP Christopher Merrywell bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.09 per share, for a total transaction of $105,450.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 50,727 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,832.43. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth Whitehead Seaton bought 2,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $18.48 per share, for a total transaction of $49,618.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,018.48. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 35,133 shares of company stock worth $719,737. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COLB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James cut shares of Columbia Banking System from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $36.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Stephens cut shares of Columbia Banking System from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $24.00 in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.42.

Columbia Banking System Stock Up 1.4 %

COLB stock opened at $17.74 on Friday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.08 and a 12-month high of $28.11. The company has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a 50 day moving average of $18.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.16.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.35). The business had revenue of $519.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $525.94 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 10.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 52.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.12%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is presently 87.27%.

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.