Geode Capital Management LLC Sells 39,932 Shares of Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Geode Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,089,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 39,932 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $194,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 39.7% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Curi Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Curi Capital LLC now owns 68,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,740,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 27.9% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 8,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WBS shares. Truist Financial cut Webster Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $74.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Santander cut Webster Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Raymond James Financial cut Webster Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Webster Financial from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Webster Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.96.

Webster Financial Trading Down 0.6%

WBS stock opened at $72.17 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $71.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.85. Webster Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $50.66 and a fifty-two week high of $74.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.04. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 22.95%.The firm had revenue of $764.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $735.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Webster Financial Corporation will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.19%.

Webster Financial Company Profile

Webster Financial Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Waterbury, Connecticut. Through its principal subsidiary, Webster Bank, N.A., the company offers a broad range of banking products and financial services to individuals, small businesses, and middle-market commercial clients. Key offerings include deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, equipment finance, treasury management, and payment processing solutions.

In addition to traditional banking services, Webster Financial provides wealth management and insurance products designed to help clients plan for retirement, preserve assets, and manage risk.