Millennium Management LLC Decreases Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Millennium Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 39.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,056 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 46,937 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC's holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $1,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.3% during 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 period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.8% during 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.9% during 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 10.2% during 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 period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 9.3% during 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson set a $25.00 target price on shares of Columbia Banking System and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $29.64.

Columbia Banking System Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of COLB traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $23.06. 1,492,531 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,788,425. The company's fifty day moving average price is $23.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.11. The company has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.08 and a beta of 0.63. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.20 and a 12 month high of $32.85.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $481.92 million for 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Columbia Banking System's payout ratio is 61.02%.

Columbia Banking System Company 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.