Arizona State Retirement System Cuts Position in Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM)

Arizona State Retirement System reduced its position in Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,287 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 311 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Columbia Sportswear were worth $818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of COLM. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 23.4% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 18,898 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,711,000 after acquiring an additional 3,588 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 19.8% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 823 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 14.3% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,112 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $192,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 34.6% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 22,554 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,042,000 after acquiring an additional 5,803 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 10.5% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 12,668 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,208 shares during the period. 47.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on COLM. StockNews.com cut Columbia Sportswear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on Columbia Sportswear from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.00.

Columbia Sportswear Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COLM opened at $75.00 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $79.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.16, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.94. Columbia Sportswear has a 1 year low of $66.01 and a 1 year high of $90.04.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The textile maker reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. Columbia Sportswear had a return on equity of 14.11% and a net margin of 7.21%. On average, analysts predict that Columbia Sportswear will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Sportswear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Columbia Sportswear’s payout ratio is 29.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ronald E. Nelson sold 5,768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.05, for a total value of $473,264.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,857 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,116.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Stephen E. Babson sold 2,411 shares of Columbia Sportswear stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.98, for a total transaction of $195,242.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 122,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,950,741.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ronald E. Nelson sold 5,768 shares of Columbia Sportswear stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.05, for a total value of $473,264.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,383,116.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 43.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Columbia Sportswear

Columbia Sportswear Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, and distributes outdoor, active, and everyday lifestyle apparel, footwear, accessories, and equipment in the United States, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Canada. The company provides apparel, accessories, and equipment for hiking, trail running, snow, fishing, hunting, mountaineering, climbing, skiing and snowboarding, trail, and outdoor activities.