Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Shares Purchased by Treasurer of the State of North Carolina

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 470 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $4,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBS. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Webster Financial during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Webster Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Webster Financial by 88.1% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 742.7% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Webster Financial news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.43, for a total transaction of $459,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 210,051 shares in the company, valued at $12,063,228.93. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WBS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Webster Financial from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group started coverage on Webster Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Webster Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.92.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

NYSE WBS opened at $44.34 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $51.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.35. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $39.34 and a twelve month high of $63.99. The company has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a PE ratio of 10.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.05.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its earnings results 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $687.53 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend 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.