American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its holdings in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,966,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 165,660 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 1.73% of Webster Financial worth $163,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WBS. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Webster Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $269,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Webster Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $246,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 31,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,488,000 after buying an additional 2,032 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,468,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,467,000 after buying an additional 34,373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 89,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,158,000 after buying an additional 6,964 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WBS. UBS Group began coverage on Webster Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Webster Financial from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Webster Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.08.

Insider Activity at Webster Financial

In related news, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $1,110,988.56. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.43, for a total value of $459,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 210,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,063,228.93. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Webster Financial Price Performance

Shares of Webster Financial stock opened at $51.57 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $8.84 billion, a PE ratio of 11.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $56.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.25. Webster Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $39.34 and a 12 month high of $63.99.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $661.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $687.53 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 18.39%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders 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 3.10%. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.61%.

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.