Essex Financial Services Inc. Purchases 1,585 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,585 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1,506.8% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial acquired a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Columbia Banking System

In other news, Director Elizabeth Whitehead Seaton acquired 2,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $18.48 per share, with a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Columbia Banking System Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of COLB opened at $20.17 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.66 and a beta of 0.69. The business’s fifty day moving average is $18.62 and its 200 day moving average is $21.13. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.08 and a 12-month high of $28.11.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.12. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The firm had revenue of $473.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $480.39 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.14%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COLB. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $21.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Columbia Banking System from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.19.

Columbia Banking System Company 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.