Insider Selling: Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Director Sells $780,728.19 in Stock

Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total transaction of $780,728.19. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Webster Financial Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of WBS opened at $55.76 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.32. Webster Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $39.33 and a 1 year high of $63.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.29.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $661.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $687.53 million. Webster Financial had a net margin of 18.39% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 earnings per share 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 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 yield of 2.87%. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is currently 36.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Webster Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Webster Financial by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,493,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,007,000 after purchasing an additional 99,908 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Webster Financial by 4.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,320,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $341,229,000 after acquiring an additional 333,606 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,620,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $365,601,000 after acquiring an additional 45,310 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,130,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $228,000,000 after acquiring an additional 35,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,154,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,173,000 after purchasing an additional 116,508 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Webster Financial from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.08.

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.