Phocas Financial Corp. Reduces Stock Holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Phocas Financial Corp. reduced its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 85.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 206,908 shares during the quarter. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the third quarter valued at about $288,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 82.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,592,000 after acquiring an additional 176,334 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 716,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,712,000 after acquiring an additional 97,498 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 45.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 120,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,156,000 after acquiring an additional 37,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 439.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 79,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,086,000 after purchasing an additional 65,072 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of COLB opened at $26.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.36. The firm has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of 10.47 and a beta of 0.66. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.08 and a 1-year 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.99%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.41%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is presently 56.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on COLB. Barclays upped their price target on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of 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. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $35.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.38.

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.