New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 6,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $177,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COLB. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 62.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 171.3% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 36.8% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 22,244.4% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 6,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 6,006 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 1.5 %

COLB stock opened at $25.12 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.32 and a 200-day moving average of $27.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.89 and a beta of 0.62. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.08 and a 12 month high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. Sell-side analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.73%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COLB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $35.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.25.

Insider Activity

In other Columbia Banking System news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total transaction of $116,461.19. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares in the company, valued at $2,725,545.31. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

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.