California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 11,329 Shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 306,490 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 11,329 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.18% of Webster Financial worth $16,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WBS. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ acquired a new stake in Webster Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Webster Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Webster Financial by 88.1% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,119 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Webster Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $105,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Webster Financial by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,045 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WBS shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Webster Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three 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, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.92.

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Insider Activity

In other Webster Financial news, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total value of $780,728.19. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,808 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,988.56. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Webster Financial Price Performance

Shares of WBS stock traded up $0.13 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.58. The company had a trading volume of 628,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,246,295. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $54.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.63. 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 capitalization of $7.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.05.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS - Get Free Report) 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. The company had revenue of $661.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $687.53 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 18.39%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Webster Financial's 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.