Bard Financial Services Inc. Decreases Position in Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Key Points

• Bard Financial Services Inc. reduced its position in Webster Financial Corporation by 14.7% in Q2, holding 29,050 shares valued at $1,586,000 after selling 5,000 shares.
• Analyst upgrades for Webster Financial include raised target prices from Citigroup to $71.00 and Barclays to $77.00, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" among 14 analysts.
• Webster Financial recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.6% and demonstrating a dividend payout ratio of 32.45%.

Bard Financial Services Inc. decreased its stake in Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS - Free Report) by 14.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,050 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $1,586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WBS. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in Webster Financial during the first quarter worth $25,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 327.2% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 739 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 118.4% during the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 832 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Webster Financial by 43.7% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 941 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Webster Financial by 171.2% during 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on WBS shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Webster Financial from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on Webster Financial from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Webster Financial in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Webster Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Webster Financial currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.00.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WBS opened at $61.44 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $10.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.07. Webster Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $39.43 and a 52 week high of $63.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $59.54 and a 200 day moving average of $53.63.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.09. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 10.84% and a net margin of 20.06%.The company had revenue of $715.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Webster Financial Corporation will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Webster Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total transaction of $463,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 239,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,900,582.40. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason A. Soto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.21, for a total transaction of $153,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 18,889 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,156,195.69. The trade was a 11.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,445 shares of company stock valued at $1,983,757. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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