Insider Selling: Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) Director Sells 2,776 Shares of Stock

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) Director Stephen E. Babson sold 2,776 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total value of $183,049.44. Following the sale, the director now owns 128,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,460,695.46. This trade represents a 2.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Columbia Sportswear Stock Performance

COLM stock opened at $67.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.83. Columbia Sportswear has a 52 week low of $58.44 and a 52 week high of $92.88.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The textile maker reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.07. Columbia Sportswear had a net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $778.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $763.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. Columbia Sportswear’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Columbia Sportswear will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Sportswear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Columbia Sportswear’s payout ratio is currently 30.69%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Sportswear

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Columbia Sportswear by 184.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new position in shares of Columbia Sportswear during the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear in the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Columbia Sportswear by 12,400.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 625 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Columbia Sportswear by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 600 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. 47.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on COLM. Barclays reduced their target price on Columbia Sportswear from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Columbia Sportswear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Columbia Sportswear in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $91.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.00.

Columbia Sportswear Company Profile

Columbia Sportswear Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, and distributes outdoor, active, and everyday lifestyle apparel, footwear, accessories, and equipment in the United States, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Canada. The company provides apparel, accessories, and equipment for hiking, trail running, snow, fishing, hunting, mountaineering, climbing, skiing and snowboarding, trail, and outdoor activities.