Wells Fargo & Company Increases Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Price Target to $30.00

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) had its price target lifted by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $28.00 to $30.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 10.86% from the stock’s current price.

COLB has been the topic of several other reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Columbia Banking System from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Citigroup upped their price target on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Columbia Banking System from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.19.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of COLB traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $27.06. The stock had a trading volume of 535,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,913,529. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.83. Columbia Banking System has a fifty-two week low of $19.61 and a fifty-two week high of $32.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 0.60.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.10. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.11% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company had revenue of $715.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $693.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Columbia Banking System will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Steven R. Gardner sold 13,725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 2,241 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total value of $63,308.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 100,469 shares in the company, valued at $2,838,249.25. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 19,354 shares of company stock valued at $561,971 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 47,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,329,000 after acquiring an additional 13,053 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 356.4% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 60,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 47,570 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter valued at about $217,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter worth about $220,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,170,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,559,000 after purchasing an additional 330,573 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

About Columbia Banking System

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.