State of Michigan Retirement System Decreases Holdings in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

State of Michigan Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $2,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its position in Webster Financial by 759.8% in the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 823,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,462,000 after acquiring an additional 727,530 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 182.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 959,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,496,000 after purchasing an additional 619,934 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Webster Financial by 4.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 333,606 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in 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 worth $35,922,000 after buying an additional 281,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the third quarter valued at $8,059,000. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WBS. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Webster Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction 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 directly 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 position. 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 the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,988.56. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Webster Financial Trading Down 1.1 %

Webster Financial stock opened at $51.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. Webster Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $39.34 and a fifty-two week high of $63.99. The stock has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $57.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.00.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $661.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is presently 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.