Sei Investments Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS - Free Report) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,975,992 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 129,675 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 1.15% of Webster Financial worth $109,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WBS. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Webster Financial by 759.8% during the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 823,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,462,000 after acquiring an additional 727,530 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 182.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 959,180 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,496,000 after purchasing an additional 619,934 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,163,000. Boston Partners increased its position in Webster Financial by 1,491.7% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 485,776 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,838,000 after buying an additional 455,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in Webster Financial by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,320,930 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $341,229,000 after buying an additional 333,606 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on WBS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Webster Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of 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 raised their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Webster Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $63.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Webster Financial news, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total value of $780,728.19. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.43, for a total transaction of $459,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 210,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,063,228.93. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:WBS traded down $0.27 during trading on Thursday, reaching $52.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 778,452 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,175,316. The firm has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.28. Webster Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $39.34 and a 12 month 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 50 day moving average of $56.05 and a 200-day moving average of $54.41.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (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 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Webster Financial's payout ratio is 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.