Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB Shares Purchased by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 3.1% in the first quarter, bringing its holding to 13.55 million shares valued at about $371.7 million.
• Institutional ownership remains dominant, with several large firms such as Wellington Management, Price T Rowe, and State Street also boosting positions; 92.53% of the stock is held by institutions and hedge funds.
• Analysts currently have a Hold consensus on COLB, with an average target price of $32.81, while the company recently beat quarterly EPS expectations and pays a quarterly dividend yielding about 4.5%.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,549,603 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 408,087 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 4.67% of Columbia Banking System worth $371,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COLB. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 135.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,782,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $354,754,000 after acquiring an additional 7,921,303 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Columbia Banking System by 140.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,666,769 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $242,237,000 after purchasing an additional 5,063,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter worth approximately $103,012,000. North Reef Capital Management LP lifted its position in Columbia Banking System by 3,600.0% in the fourth quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 3,700,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $103,415,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600,000 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,407,671 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $345,113,000 after purchasing an additional 3,290,560 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COLB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Barclays cut their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Columbia Banking System from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.81.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Devine David Moore sold 3,872 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.77, for a total transaction of $115,269.44. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 18,636 shares of the company's stock, valued at $554,793.72. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COLB opened at $32.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.62. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.77 and a 1-year high of $33.67. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $30.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.63.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.04. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 19.28%.The company had revenue of $675.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $677.34 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 37.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Columbia Banking System's payout ratio is presently 58.96%.

Columbia Banking System Company Profile

Columbia Banking System, Inc is a bank holding company that operates through its principal subsidiary, Columbia State Bank. Headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, the company provides a full range of banking and financial services to commercial, small business and consumer customers. Its branch network is concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, with locations across Washington, Oregon and Idaho, where it aims to combine local decision-making with the resources of a larger institution.

The company's offerings include commercial real estate lending, construction and development financing, equipment and small business loans, and deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts.

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