Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Shares Sold by Sepio Capital LP

Sepio Capital LP reduced its holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,508 shares during the quarter. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 62.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 171.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total value of $116,461.19. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens decreased their target price on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup decreased 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Nine 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.25.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of COLB opened at $20.78 on Monday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.08 and a 1 year high of $32.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.49. The company has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 0.53.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.99%. Equities analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.69%.

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.