Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Shares Bought by Sowell Financial Services LLC

Sowell Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 70,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,810 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $1,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 171.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 36.8% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1,507.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 4,553 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total value of $116,461.19. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COLB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens lowered their price objective 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, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.38.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:COLB opened at $25.04 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.31 and a 200-day moving average of $27.49. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.08 and a 52 week high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.99%. As a group, analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.69%.

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.