Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 6,804 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,682,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,804 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $96,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,380 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 54.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Columbia Banking System by 44.1% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 1,548 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 8,253.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 6,025 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COLB has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of 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. Barclays raised their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on 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. StockNews.com raised Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 5th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Eleven 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

NASDAQ COLB opened at $26.80 on Thursday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a one year low of $17.08 and a one year high of $32.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.43 and a 200 day moving average of $25.14. The company has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 0.64.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 10.13%. The firm had revenue of $765.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $478.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.37%. 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.