Great Lakes Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lowered its position in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 740 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Webster Financial by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the 4th quarter worth $27,163,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Webster Financial by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 45,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,535,000 after buying an additional 9,706 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in Webster Financial by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 21,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after buying an additional 2,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inceptionr LLC purchased a new stake in Webster Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $578,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Webster Financial

In other Webster Financial news, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,110,988.56. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $459,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 210,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,063,228.93. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Webster Financial Stock Up 3.9 %

Shares of WBS opened at $50.40 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.28. Webster Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $39.34 and a 52 week high of $63.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $56.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. Webster Financial had a net margin of 18.39% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The business had revenue of $661.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $687.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WBS. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of 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 raised shares of Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.08.

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.