Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 12,426 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 294,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 12,426 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.14% of Columbia Banking System worth $7,959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 122,274 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,303,000 after buying an additional 4,408 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 31,238 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $844,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the third quarter valued at about $288,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,774,443 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $47,928,000 after purchasing an additional 42,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Columbia Banking System by 82.0% in 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 buying an additional 176,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other Columbia Banking System news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total transaction of $116,461.19. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 104,869 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,725,545.31. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of COLB stock traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $21.92. 1,210,448 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,784,100. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.08 and a 52-week high of $32.85. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 0.53.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.57%. Columbia Banking System's payout ratio is 56.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on COLB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.00.

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.