Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB Shares Sold by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC reduced its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 71.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 49,736 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 5,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 9,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 122,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,422,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC increased its position in Columbia Banking System by 1.2% in the third quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 37,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $966,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in Columbia Banking System by 1.2% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 37,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $976,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COLB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Columbia Banking System from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.13.

Columbia Banking System Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of COLB opened at $29.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.84. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.91 and a 52-week high of $32.70.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $675.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $677.34 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 19.28% and a return on equity of 11.41%. Columbia Banking System’s revenue was up 37.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is 58.96%.

Columbia Banking System Profile

Columbia Banking System, Inc is a bank holding company that operates through its principal subsidiary, Columbia State Bank. Headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, the company provides a full range of banking and financial services to commercial, small business and consumer customers. Its branch network is concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, with locations across Washington, Oregon and Idaho, where it aims to combine local decision-making with the resources of a larger institution.

The company’s offerings include commercial real estate lending, construction and development financing, equipment and small business loans, and deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts.