Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Purchases 3,559 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 38.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,559 shares during the quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 60,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 91,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,476,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 31,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $844,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 49,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after acquiring an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total value of $116,461.19. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,725,545.31. This represents a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on COLB shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com started coverage on Columbia Banking System in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Stephens reduced their target price on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $27.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.85.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of COLB opened at $25.63 on Tuesday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.11 and a 1 year high of $32.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.72. The firm has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.59.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $481.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $482.86 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.99%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.62%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 61.02%.

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.