Geode Capital Management LLC Sells 23,855 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Geode Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,658,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,855 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $98,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 3rd quarter worth $352,000. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 219.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 212,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,559,000 after buying an additional 146,219 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 3rd quarter worth $390,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 27,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $721,000 after buying an additional 2,072 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 11,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COLB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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 objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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 note on Friday, January 24th. Stephens decreased 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 note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on 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. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.00.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of COLB stock opened at $22.21 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 0.53. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.08 and a fifty-two week high of $32.85.

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

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Columbia Banking System news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,725,545.31. This represents a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.