Point72 DIFC Ltd Makes New Investment in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 35,372 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $924,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 812.2% in 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 during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the third quarter worth $26,593,000. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 1,001.8% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 962,330 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,126,000 after buying an additional 874,986 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 33.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,263,432 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $59,099,000 after buying an additional 562,467 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 333.8% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 639,042 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,711,000 after buying an additional 491,742 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on COLB. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays raised their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on 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, StockNews.com raised shares of Columbia Banking System from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, October 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.19.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

COLB traded up $0.04 on Friday, reaching $30.19. 918,074 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,203,508. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.08 and a twelve month high of $32.85. The stock has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 0.64. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $28.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.46.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 10.13%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.