Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Shares Bought by Ausbil Investment Management Ltd

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 483.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 59,996 shares during the period. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $1,891,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,327,719 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $432,041,000 after purchasing an additional 574,509 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 6.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,191,704 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $123,153,000 after buying an additional 386,751 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,718,494 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $93,851,000 after buying an additional 23,963 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 21.4% during the 1st quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,468,643 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $86,468,000 after buying an additional 788,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position 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 buying an additional 2,833,744 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company's stock.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

COLB traded up $1.19 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $28.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,264,769 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,309,470. The business's 50-day moving average is $25.32 and its 200-day moving average is $22.11. The stock has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 0.64. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.08 and a fifty-two week high of $28.28.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 15.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on COLB. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Eleven 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, Columbia Banking System has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.81.

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.