Truist Financial Corp Cuts Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Truist Financial Corp cut its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 114,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,207 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.05% of Columbia Banking System worth $3,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the 3rd quarter worth about $80,011,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1,633.4% during the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 1,277,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,936,000 after buying an additional 1,203,933 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 32.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,939,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,980,000 after acquiring an additional 967,009 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 13.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,020,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,009,000 after acquiring an additional 243,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COLB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler decreased 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. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $21.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.19.

Columbia Banking System Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of COLB stock opened at $20.08 on Wednesday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.08 and a fifty-two week high of $28.11. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.15. The stock has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.62 and a beta of 0.69.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $473.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $480.39 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. 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 7.17%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is currently 61.80%.

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.