Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Stock Holdings Lessened by Fmr LLC

FMR LLC cut its holdings in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,393,518 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 383,585 shares during the quarter. FMR LLC owned approximately 4.90% of Webster Financial worth $391,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 340.7% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 595 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Webster Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Webster Financial by 7,650.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Webster Financial by 117.9% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,268 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 686 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 news, Director Mark Pettie sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.14, for a total value of $230,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,676,369.20. This represents a 12.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Albert Jen-Wen Wang sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.43, for a total value of $209,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at $748,333.39. This trade represents a 21.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 36,750 shares of company stock worth $2,074,367. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Webster Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of WBS stock traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $61.78. The company had a trading volume of 489,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,324,911. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $52.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.60. The company has a market capitalization of $10.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. Webster Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $39.33 and a twelve month high of $63.99.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). Webster Financial had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 18.80%. The firm had revenue of $647.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $677.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. Webster Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WBS shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Webster Financial from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered Webster Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Stephens set a $58.00 target price on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.85.

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.