Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Stake Raised by Moody Aldrich Partners LLC

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 337,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 22,034 shares during the quarter. Columbia Banking System comprises approximately 1.7% of Moody Aldrich Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC owned about 0.16% of Columbia Banking System worth $9,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of COLB. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,659,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,873,000 after buying an additional 1,611,563 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Columbia Banking System in the third quarter worth about $26,593,000. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 1,001.8% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 962,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,126,000 after purchasing an additional 874,986 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 33.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,263,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,099,000 after purchasing an additional 562,467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 98.6% in the third quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 944,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,657,000 after purchasing an additional 468,832 shares during the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 5th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.38.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

NASDAQ:COLB opened at $27.95 on Wednesday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.08 and a 1 year high of $32.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.88. The company has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 0.67.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.13% and a net margin of 16.15%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 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.