Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 33,448 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,367 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 33,448 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.06% of Columbia Banking System worth $3,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Columbia Banking System by 62.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 171.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 1,343 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 36.8% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,977 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 801 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 22,244.4% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 6,033 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 6,006 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on COLB. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group began coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.25.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 2.3 %

COLB stock traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $24.73. The stock had a trading volume of 1,149,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,781,492. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.50. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.08 and a 1-year high of $32.85. The firm has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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