State of Alaska Department of Revenue Lowers Stake in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lowered its stake in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 475 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $1,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Penbrook Management LLC lifted its holdings in Webster Financial by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Penbrook Management LLC now owns 4,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Webster Financial by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in Webster Financial by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on WBS shares. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Webster Financial

In related news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.33, for a total value of $474,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 218,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,988,760.92. The trade was a 3.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Lauren States sold 1,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.60, for a total transaction of $99,990.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,023 shares in the company, valued at $910,393.80. This represents a 9.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,150 shares of company stock valued at $903,085 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Shares of WBS stock opened at $58.94 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.76. The company has a market cap of $10.10 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.29. Webster Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $39.33 and a 52 week high of $63.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $661.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $687.53 million. Webster Financial had a net margin of 18.39% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.85 EPS for the current year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.61%.

Webster Financial 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.