Nicholas Company Inc. Has $8.35 Million Holdings in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Nicholas Company Inc. decreased its holdings in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 39.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 151,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 98,341 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $8,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ acquired a new position in shares of Webster Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Webster Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 88.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 45.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Webster Financial news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $12,063,228.93. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at $1,110,988.56. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Webster Financial Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of WBS opened at $50.40 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.65 and a 200 day moving average of $54.10. Webster Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $39.34 and a fifty-two week high of $63.99. The firm has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $661.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $687.53 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 18.39%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective 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. UBS Group initiated 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.08.

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.