Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB Shares Sold by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Fisher Asset Management trimmed its Columbia Banking System stake by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 112,511 shares and ending with 2.51 million shares valued at about $70.3 million.
• Recent analyst activity was mixed, but sentiment remains cautious overall: Columbia Banking System has a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $32.13, even as Piper Sandler and Weiss Ratings turned more positive.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $0.72 and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.37 per share, equal to a 5.0% annualized yield.

Fisher Asset Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,514,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 112,511 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned about 0.84% of Columbia Banking System worth $70,292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COLB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 41.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,851,392 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $768,375,000 after purchasing an additional 8,730,937 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 7,921,303 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 32.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,407,671 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $345,113,000 after purchasing an additional 3,290,560 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 68.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,116,339 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $337,611,000 after buying an additional 5,313,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,016,178 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $257,816,000 after buying an additional 1,067,491 shares during the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Columbia Banking System from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Columbia Banking System in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Columbia Banking System from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Columbia Banking System news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 2,240 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.85, for a total transaction of $64,624.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 98,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,833,906.65. The trade was a 2.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,629 shares of company stock worth $158,044. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Columbia Banking System stock opened at $29.73 on Tuesday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.91 and a 52-week high of $32.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.84 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.69.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $675.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $677.34 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 19.28% and a return on equity of 11.41%. Columbia Banking System's quarterly revenue was up 37.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. Research analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.96%.

About Columbia Banking System

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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