JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Holdings in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS - Free Report) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 513,836 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 63,926 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.30% of Webster Financial worth $28,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ purchased a new position in Webster Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Webster Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Webster Financial during the fourth quarter worth $105,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Webster Financial by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,045 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Webster Financial

In related news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.43, for a total value of $459,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 210,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,063,228.93. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 approximately $1,110,988.56. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price 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. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Webster Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Webster Financial from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.92.

Webster Financial Trading Up 0.1 %

WBS traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $42.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,840,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,261,812. The firm has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.67, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.05. Webster Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $39.34 and a 52-week high of $63.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.38.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $661.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Webster Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.61%.

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.