Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 65.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,623 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,249,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Columbia Banking System by 31.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,659,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $173,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,611,563 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 158.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,851,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,001,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134,544 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,593,000. Finally, 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 purchasing an additional 874,986 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on COLB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. UBS Group initiated coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.25.

Insider Activity

In other 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 owns 104,869 shares in the company, valued at $2,725,545.31. This represents a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 2.3 %

COLB opened at $24.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.62. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.08 and a 12 month high of $32.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $26.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.50.

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 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%. On average, equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is presently 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.