Black Maple Capital Management LP Has $1.10 Million Stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Black Maple Capital Management LP trimmed its holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 35.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 22,500 shares during the period. Black Maple Capital Management LP's holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $1,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of COLB. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 122,274 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,303,000 after buying an additional 4,408 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 31,238 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $844,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,774,443 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,928,000 after acquiring an additional 42,527 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 82.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,286 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,592,000 after acquiring an additional 176,334 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 15.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 716,673 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $18,712,000 after purchasing an additional 97,498 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $27.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $29.85.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of Columbia Banking System stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $23.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 733,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,767,056. The stock has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44 and a beta of 0.59. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.11 and a 52 week high of $32.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.77.

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

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.01%. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.02%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total value of $116,461.19. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 104,869 shares in the company, valued at $2,725,545.31. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

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.