Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $772,000 in Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,700 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $772,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of COLM. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,352,622 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $322,530,000 after purchasing an additional 366,854 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,469,768 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $108,910,000 after buying an additional 173,291 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,294,410 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $102,957,000 after buying an additional 305,592 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 497,734 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $36,882,000 after purchasing an additional 13,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 89.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 475,945 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $35,268,000 after buying an additional 224,755 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on COLM shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $75.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of Columbia Sportswear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Columbia Sportswear has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Columbia Sportswear

In other news, Director Stephen E. Babson sold 2,411 shares of Columbia Sportswear stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.98, for a total value of $195,242.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 122,879 shares in the company, valued at $9,950,741.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Stephen E. Babson sold 2,411 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.98, for a total value of $195,242.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 122,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,950,741.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ronald E. Nelson sold 5,768 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.05, for a total value of $473,264.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,857 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,116.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 43.00% of the company's stock.

Columbia Sportswear Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COLM traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $80.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,713,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 471,881. The stock has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.94. The company's 50 day moving average price is $78.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.04. Columbia Sportswear has a 52-week low of $66.01 and a 52-week high of $88.17.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The textile maker reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.36. Columbia Sportswear had a net margin of 7.20% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The firm had revenue of $769.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $740.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Columbia Sportswear will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Sportswear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Columbia Sportswear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.27%.

Columbia Sportswear Company 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.