Venturi Wealth Management LLC Purchases 4,053 Shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 2,486.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,053 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WBS. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 182.7% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 959,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,496,000 after buying an additional 619,934 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Webster Financial in the third quarter valued at $22,146,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 4.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,320,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $341,229,000 after buying an additional 333,606 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 57.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 770,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,922,000 after buying an additional 281,686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Webster Financial in the third quarter valued at $8,059,000. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Webster Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.08.

Insider Transactions at Webster Financial

In other Webster Financial news, insider Daniel Bley sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.91, for a total transaction of $30,955.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,742.89. This represents a 2.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 stock was sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total value of $780,728.19. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,808 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,988.56. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,717 shares of company stock worth $1,271,123. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Webster Financial Stock Down 3.3 %

WBS stock opened at $55.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.56 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.25. Webster Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $39.33 and a 52 week 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.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $661.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $687.53 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 18.39%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.61%.

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.