Samlyn Capital LLC Trims Holdings in Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Key Points

• Samlyn Capital LLC reduced its stake in Webster Financial Corporation by 38.0%, owning 925,176 shares after selling 567,730 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Bessemer Group Inc. and GAMMA Investing LLC, increased their stakes in Webster Financial, indicating growing interest among hedge funds and institutional investors.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Webster Financial, with JPMorgan increasing it from $55.00 to $65.00, and a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $66.77.

Samlyn Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS - Free Report) by 38.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 925,176 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 567,730 shares during the quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC owned about 0.55% of Webster Financial worth $47,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WBS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Webster Financial by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,108,082 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $366,408,000 after buying an additional 487,264 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,049,297 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $260,291,000 after buying an additional 153,236 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Webster Financial by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,597,943 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $237,025,000 after purchasing an additional 42,406 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 1.6% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,015,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $155,457,000 after purchasing an additional 48,942 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Webster Financial by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,641,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $145,878,000 after purchasing an additional 99,586 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

WBS stock traded up $0.18 on Thursday, hitting $61.84. The company had a trading volume of 1,405,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,294,925. The stock has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Webster Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $39.43 and a 12-month high of $63.99. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $59.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.58.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $715.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.59 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. Webster Financial's revenue was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Webster Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on WBS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $67.00 price objective (up from $61.00) on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Webster Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $67.00.

Insider Transactions at Webster Financial

In other news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total transaction of $463,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 239,872 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider James Mi Griffin sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.56, for a total value of $125,056.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $809,263.28. This trade represents a 13.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,445 shares of company stock worth $1,983,757 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

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.