Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Shares Bought by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,386,773 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 44,278 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned 1.14% of Columbia Banking System worth $64,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 62.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in Columbia Banking System by 171.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on COLB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. DA Davidson set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.62.

Insider Activity at Columbia Banking System

In other news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,725,545.31. This trade represents a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of COLB stock traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,332,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,792,394. The stock has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.05 and a beta of 0.53. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $24.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.02. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.11 and a 52-week high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $481.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $482.86 million. Analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.26%. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.