11,029 Shares in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Bought by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,029 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $275,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,625,834 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $341,024,000 after purchasing an additional 33,477 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,602,571 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $205,345,000 after purchasing an additional 61,242 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,315,896 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $197,602,000 after purchasing an additional 206,643 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,514,816 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $148,956,000 after purchasing an additional 512,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,456,964 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $66,363,000 after purchasing an additional 209,774 shares during the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COLB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Raymond James set a $27.00 price objective on Columbia Banking System and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $27.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen began coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.71.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of COLB stock traded down $0.78 on Friday, hitting $22.60. The stock had a trading volume of 2,616,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,780,662. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.22 and a twelve month high of $32.85. The firm has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.90 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.68.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $481.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $482.86 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Columbia Banking System's payout ratio is presently 61.02%.

Columbia Banking System Profile

Columbia Banking System, Inc operates as the holding company of Umpqua Bank that provides banking, private banking, mortgage, and other financial services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business, non-interest bearing checking, interest-bearing checking and savings, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts; and insured cash sweep and other investment sweep solutions.