Ausbil Investment Management Ltd Has $1.04 Million Stock Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd cut its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 47.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 34,098 shares during the period. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $1,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 114.9% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 76,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 40,800 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 2nd quarter worth about $560,000. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 39.2% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 42,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $837,000 after acquiring an additional 11,836 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 135.8% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 111,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,208,000 after acquiring an additional 63,932 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Columbia Banking System by 43.8% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 57,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,499,000 after purchasing an additional 17,500 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

NASDAQ COLB opened at $27.90 on Friday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.08 and a 52 week high of $32.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.51 and a 200-day moving average of $26.93.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. Equities research analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 56.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on COLB. Barclays upped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.38.

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.