Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Lowers Stock Holdings in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its stake in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,555,537 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 96,572 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 2.66% of Webster Financial worth $251,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Webster Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $246,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Webster Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,549,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,507,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $83,253,000 after purchasing an additional 38,713 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Webster Financial by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 297,834 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,883,000 after purchasing an additional 79,556 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on WBS shares. Raymond James cut their price objective on Webster Financial from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on 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. Royal Bank of Canada set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Webster Financial and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Webster Financial from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.73.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WBS traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $47.88. 214,116 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,270,335. Webster Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $39.34 and a 1-year high of $63.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.35. The firm has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.05.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by ($0.08). Webster Financial had a net margin of 18.39% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The business had revenue of $704.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $708.46 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. Webster Financial's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Webster Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Webster Financial news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.43, for a total transaction of $459,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 210,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,063,228.93. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 owns 18,808 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,988.56. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,017 shares of company stock worth $1,326,280 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

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.