Aviva PLC Lowers Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Aviva PLC reduced its position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB – Get Rating) by 40.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 31,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,299 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $950,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COLB. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,571,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $373,410,000 after purchasing an additional 115,087 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 1.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,323,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $269,365,000 after buying an additional 168,751 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 17.2% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,810,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $187,508,000 after buying an additional 853,211 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,922,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,212,000 after acquiring an additional 480,682 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,211,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,007,000 after acquiring an additional 127,345 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on COLB shares. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $24.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Stephens cut their price target on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $37.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.44.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COLB opened at $20.49 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.40. The company has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 0.67. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.54 and a 12 month high of $35.53.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $429.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $441.99 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 16.18% and a return on equity of 9.55%. Columbia Banking System’s revenue was up 39.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.03%. This is an increase from Columbia Banking System’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

About Columbia Banking System

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Columbia Banking System, Inc is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It offers its services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, and individuals. It operates through the Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California geographical segments. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Tacoma, WA.