Phocas Financial Corp. Sells 206,908 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Phocas Financial Corp. decreased its position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 85.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 206,908 shares during the quarter. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COLB. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 225,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,079,000 after purchasing an additional 63,030 shares in the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $242,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 647,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,478,000 after acquiring an additional 45,624 shares during the last quarter. Angel Oak Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter worth $837,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 33,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 4,885 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens dropped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.38.

Columbia Banking System Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of COLB opened at $26.60 on Wednesday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.08 and a twelve month high of $32.85. The stock has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of 10.47 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $27.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.36.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (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%. Analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 56.69%.

About Columbia Banking System

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.