Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM - Free Report) by 76.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,476 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 7,908 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Columbia Sportswear were worth $208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 184.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 915 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 942 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Columbia Sportswear in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $139,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,975 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.76% of the company's stock.

Columbia Sportswear Stock Performance

Columbia Sportswear stock traded down $1.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $63.80. 559,967 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 588,288. Columbia Sportswear has a one year low of $58.44 and a one year high of $92.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $67.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.24.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The textile maker reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.07. Columbia Sportswear had a net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $778.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. Columbia Sportswear's revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Columbia Sportswear will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Sportswear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Columbia Sportswear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Columbia Sportswear news, Director Stephen E. Babson sold 2,776 shares of Columbia Sportswear stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total transaction of $183,049.44. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 128,309 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,460,695.46. This trade represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richelle T. Luther sold 4,000 shares of Columbia Sportswear stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.36, for a total transaction of $369,440.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,283 shares in the company, valued at $1,319,177.88. This trade represents a 21.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 44.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on COLM. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $91.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $68.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Columbia Sportswear in a research report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Columbia Sportswear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.00.

Columbia Sportswear Profile

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.