Oak Thistle LLC Takes Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 66,061 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,784,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COLB. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of 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 worth $4,583,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 1.1% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 43,184 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,256 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the period. Sippican Capital Advisors increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.5% in the third quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 111,172 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,903,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC boosted 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 worth $741,000 after purchasing an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COLB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group assumed 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. Wedbush increased their target price on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $29.31.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

NASDAQ:COLB traded up $0.54 on Wednesday, hitting $28.43. 2,251,914 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,345,913. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.30. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.08 and a 52 week high of $32.85. The company has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.31 and a beta of 0.67.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $765.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $478.80 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.13% and a net margin of 16.15%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Columbia Banking System's payout ratio is presently 62.34%.

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.