Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB Shares Acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,536,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 929,862 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $193,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COLB. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 4.5% during the third quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 9,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the period. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. now owns 9,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the period. Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 37,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 37,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $976,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Columbia Banking System

In related news, Director Steven R. Gardner sold 13,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total value of $403,926.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 2,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.85, for a total transaction of $64,624.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 98,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,833,906.65. This trade represents a 2.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 19,354 shares of company stock worth $561,971 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on COLB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Columbia Banking System from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.04.

Columbia Banking System Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:COLB opened at $26.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.82. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.61 and a 52 week high of $32.70.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $715.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $693.23 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 17.11%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.49%.

Columbia Banking System Company Profile

Columbia Banking System, Inc is a bank holding company that operates through its principal subsidiary, Columbia State Bank. Headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, the company provides a full range of banking and financial services to commercial, small business and consumer customers. Its branch network is concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, with locations across Washington, Oregon and Idaho, where it aims to combine local decision-making with the resources of a larger institution.

The company’s offerings include commercial real estate lending, construction and development financing, equipment and small business loans, and deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts.