Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Acquires 428,776 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 25.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,109,817 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 428,776 shares during the quarter. Columbia Banking System accounts for 1.1% of Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. owned about 1.01% of Columbia Banking System worth $56,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 62.0% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

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 stock was sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total value of $116,461.19. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on COLB. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of 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. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Columbia Banking System in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. 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 report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $29.85.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 0.2%

COLB traded down $0.06 on Tuesday, hitting $25.57. 746,835 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,771,407. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.11 and a twelve month high of $32.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.72. The firm has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.07 and a beta of 0.59.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $481.92 million during 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio is 61.02%.

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.