Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Has $249,000 Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 65.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,221 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,623 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COLB. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 31,238 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $844,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 3rd quarter worth about $288,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,774,443 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,928,000 after purchasing an additional 42,527 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 176,334 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at Columbia Banking System

In other news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total value of $116,461.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,725,545.31. This represents a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

COLB stock traded down $2.58 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $22.54. The company had a trading volume of 482,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,767,959. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.08 and a 1-year high of $32.85. The company has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $26.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.52.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio is 56.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on COLB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup decreased their target price on 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 raised their price target on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.25.

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.