William Blair Investment Management LLC Purchases 42,527 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,774,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,527 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $47,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,315,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $197,602,000 after purchasing an additional 206,643 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 31.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,659,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $173,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611,563 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 33.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,263,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,099,000 after purchasing an additional 562,467 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,787,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,267,000 after purchasing an additional 172,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 14.2% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,534,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,074,000 after purchasing an additional 190,311 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Columbia Banking System news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total value of $116,461.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 104,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,725,545.31. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COLB opened at $24.77 on Tuesday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.08 and a 52 week high of $32.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $26.98 and its 200 day moving average is $27.47. The company has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 0.62.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on COLB shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.25.

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.