Legal & General Group Plc Sells 20,960 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 324,714 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 20,960 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.15% of Columbia Banking System worth $8,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 1.1% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 43,184 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,128,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 60,758 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,256 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 31,238 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $844,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 49,684 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,342,000 after acquiring an additional 621 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company's stock.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COLB traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $22.72. The company had a trading volume of 3,766,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,777,828. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $24.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.04. The firm has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 0.53. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a one year low of $18.11 and a one year high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. The company had revenue of $481.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $482.86 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System's payout ratio is currently 56.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total value of $116,461.19. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,725,545.31. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COLB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James set a $27.00 target price on shares of Columbia Banking System and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.77.

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.