Insider Selling: Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Director Sells 13,217 Shares of Stock

Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total value of $780,728.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,808 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,988.56. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Webster Financial Trading Down 3.3 %

WBS opened at $55.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $9.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.29. Webster Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $39.33 and a 12 month high of $63.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $57.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.32.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. Webster Financial had a net margin of 18.39% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The business had revenue of $661.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $687.53 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is 36.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Webster Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,493,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,007,000 after purchasing an additional 99,908 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Webster Financial by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,320,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $341,229,000 after buying an additional 333,606 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Webster Financial by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,620,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $365,601,000 after buying an additional 45,310 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Webster Financial by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,130,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $228,000,000 after acquiring an additional 35,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Webster Financial by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,154,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,173,000 after acquiring an additional 116,508 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Webster Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Webster Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.08.

Webster Financial Company Profile

Webster Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Webster Bank, National Association that provides a range of financial products and services to individuals, families, and businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, HSA Bank, and Consumer Banking.