Insider Selling: Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) CAO Sells 4,000 Shares of Stock

Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) CAO Albert Jen-Wen Wang sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.43, for a total value of $209,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $748,333.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Shares of WBS stock opened at $51.51 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.40. Webster Financial Co. has a one year low of $36.36 and a one year high of $54.38. The stock has a market cap of $8.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). Webster Financial had a net margin of 18.80% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The company had revenue of $647.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $677.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.26 EPS for the current year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is presently 32.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Webster Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Webster Financial by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,926,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $910,117,000 after buying an additional 54,841 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Webster Financial by 1.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,237,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $316,678,000 after acquiring an additional 95,780 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Webster Financial by 28.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,522,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $240,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206,575 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in Webster Financial by 0.4% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,086,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,524,000 after acquiring an additional 13,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,640,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,096,000 after purchasing an additional 301,935 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WBS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays increased their target price on Webster Financial from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Webster Financial from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Stephens set a $58.00 target price on Webster Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Webster Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.85.

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.