General American Investors Co. Inc. Buys Shares of 165,556 Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB

Posted by Stanley Muller on Jun 14th, 2026

General American Investors Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB – Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 165,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,000. General American Investors Co. Inc. owned about 0.06% of Columbia Banking System as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COLB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 41.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,851,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $768,375,000 after acquiring an additional 8,730,937 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 135.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,782,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $354,754,000 after acquiring an additional 7,921,303 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,116,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $337,611,000 after acquiring an additional 5,313,883 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter valued at $103,012,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,407,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $345,113,000 after acquiring an additional 3,290,560 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COLB has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.13.

Check Out Our Latest Report on COLB

Columbia Banking System Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of COLB stock opened at $31.31 on Friday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $32.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $29.36 and a 200-day moving average of $28.99.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.04. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 19.28% and a return on equity of 11.41%. The company had revenue of $675.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $677.34 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 37.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 58.96%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Devine David Moore sold 3,872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.77, for a total value of $115,269.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 18,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $554,793.72. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Columbia Banking System

(Free Report)

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.