Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 10,966 Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 10,966 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of COLB. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 62.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 171.3% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,977 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Columbia Banking System by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company's stock.

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Columbia Banking System Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of Columbia Banking System stock traded down $0.59 during trading on Friday, reaching $24.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,149,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,781,492. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.52. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.08 and a 1-year high of $32.85. The company has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.62.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.99%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on COLB. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Columbia Banking System from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays increased 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 note on Thursday, December 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total transaction of $116,461.19. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,725,545.31. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

Columbia Banking System Company 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.