Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Shares Bought by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,973,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,901 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $164,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WBS. State Street Corp increased its stake in Webster Financial by 4.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,320,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $341,229,000 after purchasing an additional 333,606 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Webster Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $120,497,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Webster Financial by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,975,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,114,000 after buying an additional 129,675 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Webster Financial by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,507,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,253,000 after acquiring an additional 38,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $45,462,000 after acquiring an additional 727,530 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total transaction 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 $1,110,988.56. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 210,051 shares in the company, valued at $12,063,228.93. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Webster Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.92.

Webster Financial Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WBS opened at $41.75 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $54.62 and a 200-day moving average of $54.67. 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 firm has a market cap of $7.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.05. Webster Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $39.34 and a twelve month high of $63.99.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 18.39%. The firm had revenue of $661.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $687.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is currently 36.61%.

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.