Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Given New $32.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) had its target price reduced by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $34.00 to $32.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 11.47% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded Columbia Banking System from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.58.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

COLB traded up $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $28.71. The stock had a trading volume of 190,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,886,421. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $30.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.03. The firm has a market cap of $8.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.62. Columbia Banking System has a one year low of $23.83 and a one year high of $33.67.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.03. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 19.96% and a return on equity of 11.33%. The company had revenue of $677.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $687.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Columbia Banking System will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Columbia Banking System

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cim Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 7.4% in the second quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 7.9% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 2nd quarter valued at $553,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 2nd quarter valued at $119,000. Finally, Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 2nd quarter valued at $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

About Columbia Banking System

Columbia Banking System, Inc (NASDAQ: COLB) is a bank holding company headquartered in Tacoma, Washington. Through its subsidiary, Umpqua Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions.

Umpqua Bank’s offerings include deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, real estate finance, treasury management, cash management, investment services and other business banking solutions. The bank serves small and middle-market companies as well as retail customers through branches, digital banking platforms and relationship-based financial services.

Columbia Banking System traces its history to the formation of Columbia Bank in Washington in 1993.