172,893 Shares in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Purchased by Holocene Advisors LP

Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 172,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,059,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 1,859.1% during the second quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 15,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $684,000 after purchasing an additional 14,891 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in shares of Webster Financial by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 170,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,447,000 after buying an additional 20,300 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 402.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,628,000 after acquiring an additional 25,683 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Webster Financial by 12.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 301,935 shares during the period. Finally, M&G PLC boosted its stake in Webster Financial by 9.4% during the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 207,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,743,000 after acquiring an additional 17,746 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Webster Financial

In other news, Director Mark Pettie sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.14, for a total value of $230,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 32,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,676,369.20. This represents a 12.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Albert Jen-Wen Wang sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.43, for a total transaction of $209,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $748,333.39. This represents a 21.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 37,250 shares of company stock valued at $2,105,322. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Webster Financial Stock Down 1.1 %

WBS stock opened at $60.29 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $53.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.71. The company has a market cap of $10.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.29. Webster Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $39.33 and a fifty-two week high of $63.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). Webster Financial had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 18.80%. The business had revenue of $647.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $677.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WBS shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Webster Financial from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Webster Financial from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target 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. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Webster Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.62.

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.