Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 525,432 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,240,244 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 525,432 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 2.98% of Columbia Banking System worth $162,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 175,538 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,583,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 111,172 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,903,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.5% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 28,371 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $741,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 14.0% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,767 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 709 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 2.9% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 25,111 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $656,000 after buying an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company's stock.

Columbia Banking System Stock Up 3.2 %

COLB stock traded up $0.97 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.64. 1,334,107 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,564,862. The company has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 0.62. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.08 and a 1-year high of $31.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.84.

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, beating 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 business had revenue of $765.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $478.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on COLB shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 5th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.12.

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.