Norges Bank Buys Shares of 3,685,594 Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 3,685,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $103,012,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 35.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 56,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after buying an additional 14,824 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 82,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,063,000 after buying an additional 15,845 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 572.7% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 484,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,089,000 after buying an additional 412,674 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 28.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 492,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,290,000 after buying an additional 108,994 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 887,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,128,000 after buying an additional 16,165 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Columbia Banking System Stock Up 0.5%

COLB stock opened at $29.66 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $29.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.84. The stock has a market cap of $8.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 0.63. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.91 and a fifty-two week high of $32.70.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $675.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $677.34 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 19.28%.The firm’s revenue was up 37.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is currently 58.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COLB. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Columbia Banking System from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. UBS Group began coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Columbia Banking System from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.13.

Columbia Banking System Profile

Columbia Banking System, Inc is a bank holding company that operates through its principal subsidiary, Columbia State Bank. Headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, the company provides a full range of banking and financial services to commercial, small business and consumer customers. Its branch network is concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, with locations across Washington, Oregon and Idaho, where it aims to combine local decision-making with the resources of a larger institution.

The company’s offerings include commercial real estate lending, construction and development financing, equipment and small business loans, and deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts.