Grove Bank & Trust Invests $105,000 in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $105,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Webster Financial during the third quarter worth about $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Webster Financial by 340.7% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Webster Financial during the third quarter worth about $53,000. NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Webster Financial by 117.9% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Webster Financial by 45.9% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Webster Financial

In related news, insider Charles L. Wilkins sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.50, for a total transaction of $297,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,002,591.50. This represents a 12.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel Bley sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.91, for a total transaction of $30,955.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,279 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,742.89. The trade was a 2.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,287 shares of company stock worth $1,485,050. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Webster Financial Stock Up 2.8 %

WBS opened at $59.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.51, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $58.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.22. Webster Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $39.33 and a twelve month high of $63.99.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 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 analysts’ expectations of $687,532.71 billion. Webster Financial had a net margin of 18.80% and a return on equity of 11.03%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBS has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Wedbush upped 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.58.

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.