Aquatic Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 44,238 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,195,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,625,834 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $341,024,000 after purchasing an additional 33,477 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,602,571 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $205,345,000 after buying an additional 61,242 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,315,896 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $197,602,000 after buying an additional 206,643 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,514,816 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $148,956,000 after buying an additional 512,542 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,456,964 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $66,363,000 after acquiring an additional 209,774 shares during the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James set a $27.00 price target on shares of Columbia Banking System and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $27.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $29.85.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

NASDAQ COLB traded up $0.70 during trading on Friday, reaching $23.69. 1,817,675 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,765,258. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.11 and a fifty-two week high of $32.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.87.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $481.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $482.86 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. Columbia Banking System's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.08%. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Columbia Banking System news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total transaction of $116,461.19. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares in the company, valued at $2,725,545.31. This represents a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.