Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Stock Holdings Decreased by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 98,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,052 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $2,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 65.9% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,791,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $402,508,000 after purchasing an additional 7,465,846 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,492,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $192,517,000 after buying an additional 390,004 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,323,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $269,365,000 after buying an additional 168,751 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 3,669.2% in the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 8,094,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $173,405,000 after buying an additional 7,880,183 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,079,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $143,714,000 after buying an additional 26,010 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Columbia Banking System news, Director Elizabeth Whitehead Seaton bought 2,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $18.48 per share, for a total transaction of $49,618.80. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 25,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,018.48. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Elizabeth Whitehead Seaton purchased 2,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $18.48 per share, for a total transaction of $49,618.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 25,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,018.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Luis Machuca purchased 4,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $20.58 per share, for a total transaction of $100,615.62. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 60,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,251,984.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 35,133 shares of company stock worth $719,737 in the last ninety days. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COLB traded up $0.57 during trading on Friday, reaching $18.31. The company had a trading volume of 2,115,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,884,837. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $18.49 and its 200 day moving average is $21.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 0.71. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.08 and a twelve month high of $28.11.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.35). Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.27% and a net margin of 12.71%. The business had revenue of $519.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $525.94 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 52.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.86%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is currently 87.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on COLB shares. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. Raymond James lowered shares of Columbia Banking System from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Columbia Banking System from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. TheStreet lowered shares of Columbia Banking System from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $36.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.42.

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.