Wells Fargo & Company MN Buys 470 Shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 202,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 470 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $11,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WBS. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Webster Financial during the 4th quarter worth $269,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Webster Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $246,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Webster Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $3,549,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Webster Financial by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,507,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,253,000 after buying an additional 38,713 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Webster Financial by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 297,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,883,000 after purchasing an additional 79,556 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.43, for a total value of $459,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 210,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,063,228.93. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total transaction of $780,728.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,988.56. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WBS. Barclays cut their price target on Webster Financial from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Webster Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.92.

Webster Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WBS opened at $44.34 on Wednesday. Webster Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $39.34 and a fifty-two week high of $63.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a PE ratio of 10.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.35.

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

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.61%.

About Webster Financial

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.