Barclays PLC Trims Stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Barclays PLC trimmed its position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 15.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 426,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 80,790 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.20% of Columbia Banking System worth $11,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COLB. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 812.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,182,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $63,295,000 after purchasing an additional 2,833,744 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of 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 worth $173,873,000 after buying an additional 1,611,563 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Columbia Banking System during the third quarter worth $26,593,000. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 1,001.8% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 962,330 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,126,000 after buying an additional 874,986 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 33.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,263,432 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $59,099,000 after acquiring an additional 562,467 shares during the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on COLB shares. UBS Group assumed coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $29.00.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of COLB traded down $1.11 on Tuesday, reaching $28.63. 1,721,338 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,180,200. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $29.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.13. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.08 and a 52-week high of $32.85. The stock has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of 12.39 and a beta of 0.64.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.07. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 10.13%. The company had revenue of $765.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $478.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.03%. Columbia Banking System's payout ratio is currently 62.34%.

Columbia Banking System 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.