Easterly Investment Partners LLC Sells 15,560 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 486,991 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 15,560 shares during the period. Columbia Banking System accounts for approximately 1.0% of Easterly Investment Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Easterly Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.23% of Columbia Banking System worth $13,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 158.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,851,217 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $50,001,000 after buying an additional 1,134,544 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 96,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,611,000 after acquiring an additional 21,713 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,159,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,089,480 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,427,000 after purchasing an additional 93,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,602,571 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $205,345,000 after purchasing an additional 61,242 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. 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 company from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays increased their price target on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group started coverage on Columbia Banking System in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price 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, Citigroup dropped their target price 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Columbia Banking System news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Columbia Banking System stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $24.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 326,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,775,792. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.08 and a 12 month high of $32.85. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $26.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.52. The company has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 0.62.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio is 56.69%.

Columbia Banking System Company 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.