Bank of America Corp DE Invests $45.10 Million in Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB

Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,407,290 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $45,104,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.50% of Columbia Banking System at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COLB. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 2nd quarter worth about $880,443,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,549,603 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $371,656,000 after purchasing an additional 408,087 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,422,137 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $207,449,000 after purchasing an additional 403,049 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,698,017 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $159,291,000 after buying an additional 151,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter valued at about $103,012,000. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COLB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson raised Columbia Banking System from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $33.00 to $36.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Stephens lifted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Columbia Banking System from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.83.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COLB opened at $29.90 on Tuesday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.83 and a fifty-two week high of $33.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.62. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $31.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.96.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $677.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $687.40 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 19.96% and a return on equity of 11.33%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.96%.

Columbia Banking System Company Profile

Columbia Banking System, Inc is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Tacoma, Washington. Through its principal subsidiary, Columbia Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses, professionals and public-sector organizations.

Its products and services include consumer and commercial deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, business loans, lines of credit, treasury management, wealth management, mortgage services and digital banking.

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