Insider Selling: Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Director Sells 1,650 Shares of Stock

Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Director Lauren States sold 1,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.60, for a total transaction of $99,990.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,023 shares in the company, valued at $910,393.80. This trade represents a 9.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Webster Financial Price Performance

Shares of WBS stock traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $59.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 549,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,260,874. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Webster Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $39.33 and a fifty-two week high of $61.12. The company has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.62.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $677.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is 36.28%.

Institutional Trading of Webster Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WBS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 0.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 54,841 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $341,229,000 after purchasing an additional 333,606 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 95,780 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Webster Financial by 28.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,522,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $240,687,000 after buying an additional 1,206,575 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Webster Financial by 0.4% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on WBS shares. StockNews.com lowered Webster Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Stephens set a $58.00 target price on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. 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 report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus 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.