Vontobel Holding Ltd. Acquires Shares of 14,123 Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 14,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $377,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 11.0% in the third quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 405,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,231,000 after buying an additional 40,215 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 1,633.4% in the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 1,277,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,936,000 after buying an additional 1,203,933 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 967,009 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 20,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $535,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 146,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,910,000 after buying an additional 25,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of COLB stock opened at $19.08 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $18.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.18. The company has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56 and a beta of 0.71. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.08 and a fifty-two week high of $28.11.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.35). The business had revenue of $519.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $525.94 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 10.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 52.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.55%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Columbia Banking System

In other news, CFO Ron L. Farnsworth acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.71 per share, with a total value of $51,775.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 160,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,315,111.83. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Ron L. Farnsworth acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.71 per share, with a total value of $51,775.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 160,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,315,111.83. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Clint Stein acquired 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.96 per share, for a total transaction of $199,120.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 165,684 shares in the company, valued at $3,472,736.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 35,133 shares of company stock valued at $719,737. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COLB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stephens lowered Columbia Banking System from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com lowered Columbia Banking System from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Barclays initiated coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.42.

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.