Northern Trust Corp Grows Holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,768,473 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 329,485 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.84% of Columbia Banking System worth $47,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,249,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 158.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,851,217 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $50,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,544 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter valued at $22,476,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,514,816 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $148,956,000 after buying an additional 512,542 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter worth $10,227,000. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total transaction of $116,461.19. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 104,869 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COLB. Stephens dropped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $27.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $29.85.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of COLB traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $23.93. The stock had a trading volume of 1,584,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,773,545. The stock's 50 day moving average is $23.39 and its 200 day moving average is $26.73. The firm has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a PE ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 0.59. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.11 and a 1 year high of $32.85.

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

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.