Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Shares Sold by ARGA Investment Management LP

ARGA Investment Management LP trimmed its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 39.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 59,023 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $2,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Columbia Banking System during the second quarter worth $560,000. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 39.2% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 42,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $837,000 after buying an additional 11,836 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 135.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 111,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,208,000 after buying an additional 63,932 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 57,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,499,000 after buying an additional 17,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 54.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

COLB opened at $28.04 on Wednesday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.08 and a 12 month high of $32.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $28.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 0.66.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on COLB shares. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price 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. Stephens cut their price target on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.38.

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.