Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Shares Bought by Verition Fund Management LLC

Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 135.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,445 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,921 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC's holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COLB. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the third quarter worth about $276,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 868,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $22,688,000 after purchasing an additional 9,561 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 52,764 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,378,000 after purchasing an additional 7,704 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 439.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 79,877 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,086,000 after purchasing an additional 65,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,614,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,166,000 after buying an additional 53,847 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company's stock.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 1.1 %

COLB traded down $0.33 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.52. 822,520 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,193,505. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.08 and a 52 week high of $32.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.02 and a 200 day moving average of $24.75. The stock has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 0.64.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $765.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.88%. Columbia Banking System's payout ratio is currently 62.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on COLB. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.19.

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.