Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 30.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 485,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 211,787 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Columbia Banking System worth $12,673,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in Columbia Banking System in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 111.5% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,618 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 54.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,640 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 1,290 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 44.1% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,058 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 1,548 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 1,507.6% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,855 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 4,553 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on COLB. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Columbia Banking System from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, October 5th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $29.00.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COLB traded down $0.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $27.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 912,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,177,392. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $29.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.56. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.08 and a 12 month high of $32.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.64.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $765.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.31%. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.34%.

Columbia Banking System 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.