Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 303,319 Shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its stake in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS - Free Report) by 60.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 195,146 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 303,319 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.11% of Webster Financial worth $10,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ acquired a new stake in Webster Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 171.2% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,025 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Webster Financial by 78.7% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Javier L. Evans sold 7,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.58, for a total transaction of $410,124.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,820 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,042,135.60. The trade was a 28.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel Bley sold 1,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.84, for a total transaction of $86,112.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,517 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,029,373.28. The trade was a 7.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,000 shares of company stock valued at $934,210 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $61.00 price target for the company. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $63.75.

Webster Financial Price Performance

Shares of Webster Financial stock traded down $1.44 on Friday, hitting $51.86. 1,646,831 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,279,220. The company has a market cap of $8.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $49.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.54. Webster Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $39.34 and a 12-month high of $63.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $704.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $708.46 million. Webster Financial had a net margin of 18.39% and a return on equity of 10.82%. Webster Financial's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. Analysts expect that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $700.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Webster Financial's payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

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.