Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 13,814 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 78.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,814 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 37,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,069,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 16,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 91,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,853,000 after buying an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 33,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $688,000 after buying an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. TheStreet lowered Columbia Banking System from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Truist Financial cut their price target on Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler cut their price target on 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. Raymond James lowered Columbia Banking System from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Columbia Banking System from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.04.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COLB opened at $18.54 on Thursday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.18 and a 12 month high of $28.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.32. The company has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 0.71.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $519.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $525.94 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 10.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 52.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.29 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is currently 87.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Aaron James Deer bought 2,000 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.32 per share, with a total value of $38,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,942. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Aaron James Deer bought 2,000 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.32 per share, with a total value of $38,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,942. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John F. Schultz bought 8,559 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.39 per share, for a total transaction of $174,518.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 41,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $853,729.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 35,133 shares of company stock valued at $719,737 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.