Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Raises Position in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $4,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Webster Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $269,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in Webster Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $246,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Webster Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,549,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $83,253,000 after purchasing an additional 38,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 297,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,883,000 after purchasing an additional 79,556 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Webster Financial

In other Webster Financial news, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total transaction of $780,728.19. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,988.56. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 210,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,063,228.93. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WBS. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Webster Financial from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group began coverage on Webster Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.92.

Webster Financial Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE WBS opened at $44.34 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $51.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.35. Webster Financial Co. has a one year low of $39.34 and a one year 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 firm 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.

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

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.