Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Shares Purchased by Moody Aldrich Partners LLC

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC raised its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 12.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 314,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,098 shares during the quarter. Columbia Banking System comprises approximately 1.5% of Moody Aldrich Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $8,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 85.1% during the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 144.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 111.5% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 137,166.7% during the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 4,115 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on COLB shares. Raymond James upped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.81.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

NASDAQ:COLB traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $27.72. 838,352 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,297,150. The business has a 50 day moving average of $25.32 and a 200 day moving average of $22.11. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.08 and a 1-year high of $28.15. The company has a market capitalization of $5.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.64.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 15.94%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.80%.

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.