Insider Selling: Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Insider Sells $30,955.00 in Stock

Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) insider Daniel Bley sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.91, for a total transaction of $30,955.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,742.89. This trade represents a 2.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Daniel Bley also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, October 21st, Daniel Bley sold 3,463 shares of Webster Financial stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.10, for a total transaction of $180,422.30.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:WBS opened at $59.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $54.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.98. Webster Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $39.33 and a fifty-two week high of $63.99.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $647.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $677.72 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 18.80%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Webster Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,522,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $240,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,575 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 64.9% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,604,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,927,000 after purchasing an additional 631,080 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 182.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 959,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,496,000 after purchasing an additional 619,934 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $22,146,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,320,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $341,229,000 after purchasing an additional 333,606 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WBS shares. Stephens set a $58.00 price target on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wedbush upped their price target 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Webster Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.08.

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.