Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Shares Sold by Leeward Investments LLC MA

Leeward Investments LLC MA reduced its stake in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 143,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,928 shares during the period. Leeward Investments LLC MA owned approximately 0.08% of Webster Financial worth $7,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial during the fourth quarter worth $1,093,000. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after purchasing an additional 4,498 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 759.8% in the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 823,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,462,000 after purchasing an additional 727,530 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 49,983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,760,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 2,486.5% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 4,053 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBS has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group started coverage on Webster Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Webster Financial from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.08.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

NYSE WBS opened at $55.76 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.29. Webster Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $39.33 and a twelve month 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $57.58 and a 200 day moving average of $53.39.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its quarterly 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. Webster Financial had a net margin of 18.39% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The firm 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.43, for a total value 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. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Daniel Bley sold 500 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.91, for a total value of $30,955.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,279 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,742.89. This represents a 2.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,717 shares of company stock worth $1,271,123 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.