Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 512,542 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,514,816 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 512,542 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 2.63% of Columbia Banking System worth $148,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 62.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 171.3% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 104,869 shares of the company's stock, 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 the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COLB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens lowered 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 research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James set a $27.00 target price on Columbia Banking System and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.85.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

COLB traded up $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $22.74. 858,477 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,783,300. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.98 and a beta of 0.53. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.11 and a 12-month high of $32.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.96 and a 200 day moving average of $26.99.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $481.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $482.86 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.99%. The business's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio is currently 61.02%.

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.