Paloma Partners Management Co Purchases Shares of 12,275 Columbia Banking System, Inc. (COLB)

Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 12,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $479,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COLB. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 49,309.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,207,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $281,015,000 after buying an additional 7,192,784 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 5.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,363,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $209,142,000 after buying an additional 257,821 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 3.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,910,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $113,470,000 after buying an additional 102,386 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 1.7% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,774,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $108,170,000 after buying an additional 46,048 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 74.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,754,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $107,399,000 after buying an additional 1,179,254 shares in the last quarter. 95.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) traded up 1.11% during midday trading on Friday, reaching $39.31. 175,855 shares of the company’s stock traded hands. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.00 and a 52 week high of $45.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $39.66 and its 200-day moving average is $39.38. The company has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94 and a beta of 1.22.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.01. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 25.82%. The business had revenue of $110.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $112.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post $2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 9th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 7th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.67%.

COLB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Columbia Banking System from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 2nd. Piper Jaffray Companies dropped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 17th. BidaskClub cut shares of Columbia Banking System from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Columbia Banking System has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.40.

In other news, CFO Clint Stein sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.09, for a total value of $320,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,877 shares in the company, valued at $917,138.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.23% of the company’s stock.

About Columbia Banking System

Columbia Banking System, Inc (Columbia) is a bank holding company for Columbia State Bank (the Bank) and Columbia Trust Company (Columbia Trust). The Company provides a range of banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals and individuals. It offers products and services, which include Personal Banking, Business Banking and Wealth Management.