Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 740 Shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 740 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WBS. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 9.3% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in Webster Financial by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 21,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $984,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Webster Financial during the third quarter valued at $286,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Webster Financial by 29.6% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 236,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,012,000 after purchasing an additional 53,950 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Webster Financial by 26.1% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 212,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,894,000 after buying an additional 44,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Webster Financial stock opened at $50.40 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $56.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.15. 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 company has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.28. Webster Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $39.34 and a twelve month high of $63.99.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 18.39%. The company had revenue of $661.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $687.53 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is 36.61%.

Insider Transactions at Webster Financial

In other news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 210,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,063,228.93. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total value of $780,728.19. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,988.56. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group started coverage on Webster Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Webster Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.08.

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.