491,906 Shares in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Acquired by Wealthfront Advisers LLC

Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 491,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,163,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WBS. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Webster Financial during the fourth quarter worth $269,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $246,000. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Webster Financial by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 31,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,488,000 after acquiring an additional 2,032 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 2.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,468,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,467,000 after purchasing an additional 34,373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 8.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 89,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,158,000 after purchasing an additional 6,964 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Webster Financial

In other news, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total value of $780,728.19. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,988.56. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of Webster Financial 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 owns 210,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,063,228.93. This 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 owned by insiders.

Webster Financial Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of WBS stock opened at $48.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.37 billion, a PE ratio of 11.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.28. Webster Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $39.34 and a 1-year high of $63.99. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $56.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.09.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) 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 the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 18.39%. The company had revenue of $661.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $687.53 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is 36.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.08.

Webster Financial 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.