Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Receives “Neutral” Rating from Wedbush

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Wedbush in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $20.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 1.21% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $21.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet lowered shares of Columbia Banking System from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Columbia Banking System from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.12.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of Columbia Banking System stock traded up $0.75 on Friday, hitting $19.76. 613,121 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,835,122. The company has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $18.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.16. Columbia Banking System has a 52 week low of $17.08 and a 52 week high of $28.11.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.12. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.27% and a net margin of 12.71%. The business had revenue of $473.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $480.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher Merrywell purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $21.09 per share, with a total value of $105,450.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 50,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,832.43. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Aaron James Deer acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.32 per share, for a total transaction of $38,640.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 36,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,942. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher Merrywell acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $21.09 per share, for a total transaction of $105,450.00. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 50,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,832.43. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 35,133 shares of company stock valued at $719,737. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Columbia Banking System

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of COLB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,753,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $580,376,000 after buying an additional 123,120 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,788,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $207,809,000 after purchasing an additional 700,643 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,079,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,714,000 after purchasing an additional 26,010 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,578,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,158,000 after purchasing an additional 637,212 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Columbia Banking System by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,939,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,980,000 after purchasing an additional 967,009 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.