Moore Capital Management LP Has $17.38 Million Stock Holdings in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Moore Capital Management LP trimmed its stake in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 35.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 314,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 169,443 shares during the period. Moore Capital Management LP owned about 0.18% of Webster Financial worth $17,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ purchased a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Webster Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Webster Financial by 88.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its position in Webster Financial by 742.7% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Webster Financial

In other Webster Financial news, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total transaction of $780,728.19. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,110,988.56. The trade was a 41.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Daniel Bley sold 1,800 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.84, for a total value of $86,112.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,373.28. This represents a 7.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,217 shares of company stock valued at $1,386,244 in the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Shares of WBS stock opened at $49.86 on Monday. Webster Financial Co. has a one year low of $39.34 and a one year high of $63.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $8.39 billion, a PE ratio of 11.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $48.09 and a 200-day moving average of $54.31.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.38 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $704.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $708.46 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 18.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $700.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on WBS. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Webster Financial and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.73.

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.