Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) PT Raised to $21.00

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by equities researchers at Barclays from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Barclays's price objective indicates a potential upside of 9.83% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on COLB. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $21.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet downgraded Columbia Banking System from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.19.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:COLB traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $19.12. The company had a trading volume of 3,715,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,876,295. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 0.71. Columbia Banking System has a 1 year low of $17.08 and a 1 year high of $28.11.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.12. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.27% and a net margin of 12.71%. The firm had revenue of $473.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $480.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. Columbia Banking System's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John F. Schultz bought 8,559 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $20.39 per share, for a total transaction of $174,518.01. Following the transaction, the director now owns 41,870 shares in the company, valued at $853,729.30. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Columbia Banking System news, insider Aaron James Deer acquired 2,000 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.32 per share, with a total value of $38,640.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 36,850 shares in the company, valued at $711,942. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John F. Schultz acquired 8,559 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.39 per share, with a total value of $174,518.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $853,729.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 35,133 shares of company stock valued at $719,737. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Columbia Banking System

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in COLB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,753,210 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $580,376,000 after purchasing an additional 123,120 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Columbia Banking System by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,788,928 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $207,809,000 after acquiring an additional 700,643 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 0.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,079,502 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $143,714,000 after acquiring an additional 26,010 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,578,618 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $122,158,000 after purchasing an additional 637,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,939,877 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $79,980,000 after purchasing an additional 967,009 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Columbia Banking System

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.