Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Shares Sold by Boothbay Fund Management LLC

Boothbay Fund Management LLC reduced its position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 78.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,775 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 81,651 shares during the quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC's holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Columbia Banking System stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $23.60. 237,416 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,760,978. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.83. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.11 and a 12 month high of $32.85.

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

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.02%.

Insider Activity at Columbia Banking System

In other Columbia Banking System news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total transaction of $116,461.19. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,725,545.31. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson set a $25.00 price objective on Columbia Banking System and gave the company a "neutral" 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 research report on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Raymond James set a $27.00 target price on Columbia Banking System and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.85.

Columbia Banking System 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.