Voya Investment Management LLC Decreases Stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Voya Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,802 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 62.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 171.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on COLB. DA Davidson set a $25.00 price objective on Columbia Banking System and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup reduced 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Raymond James set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.85.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Columbia Banking System stock opened at $24.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.47 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.77. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.11 and a fifty-two week high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $481.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $482.86 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.99%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.02%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 $2,725,545.31. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.