Kennedy Capital Management LLC Sells 1,046,228 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 83.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 210,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,046,228 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $4,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,327,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $432,041,000 after purchasing an additional 574,509 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 9.9% during the 4th 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings 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 valued at $122,158,000 after acquiring an additional 637,212 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 21.4% in the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,468,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,468,000 after acquiring an additional 788,383 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,777,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,109,000 after purchasing an additional 36,507 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ COLB traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $26.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,644,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,549,835. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.08 and a 1 year high of $28.11. The company has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $20.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.81.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $472.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $476.01 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 15.94% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.48%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 61.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COLB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Columbia Banking System from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.04.

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.