Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Reduces Holdings in Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM - Free Report) by 24.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,063 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 7,101 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Columbia Sportswear were worth $1,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COLM. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 184.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 12,400.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 625 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Columbia Sportswear in the 4th quarter worth about $76,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 915 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Columbia Sportswear in the 4th quarter worth about $139,000. 47.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Columbia Sportswear from $91.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price on Columbia Sportswear from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $68.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Columbia Sportswear in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on Columbia Sportswear from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on Columbia Sportswear in a research note on Friday, May 30th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $70.00.

Insider Activity at Columbia Sportswear

In related news, Director Stephen E. Babson sold 2,776 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total transaction of $183,049.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 128,309 shares in the company, valued at $8,460,695.46. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 48.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Columbia Sportswear Trading Down 4.4%

Shares of COLM traded down $2.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $59.62. The stock had a trading volume of 535,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 605,958. The company's 50-day moving average is $64.46 and its 200 day moving average is $77.00. Columbia Sportswear has a 12-month low of $58.44 and a 12-month high of $92.88. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.00.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The textile maker reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.07. Columbia Sportswear had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 6.63%. The firm had revenue of $778.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Columbia Sportswear will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Sportswear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. Columbia Sportswear's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.69%.

About Columbia Sportswear

Columbia Sportswear Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, and distributes outdoor, active, and everyday lifestyle apparel, footwear, accessories, and equipment in the United States, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Canada. The company provides apparel, accessories, and equipment for hiking, trail running, snow, fishing, hunting, mountaineering, climbing, skiing and snowboarding, trail, and outdoor activities.