Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Invests $239,000 in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 4,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Webster Financial by 88.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,401,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $976,594,000 after buying an additional 8,161,424 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Webster Financial by 219.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,782,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,381,000 after buying an additional 3,285,002 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Webster Financial by 68.8% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,511,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $421,534,000 after buying an additional 3,061,831 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Webster Financial by 2,063.7% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,888,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,306,000 after buying an additional 1,801,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Webster Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $84,632,000. 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, COO Luis Massiani sold 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.63, for a total value of $697,005.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 89,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,132.23. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Webster Financial news, COO Luis Massiani sold 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.63, for a total value of $697,005.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 89,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,132.23. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher J. Motl sold 10,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total transaction of $548,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 63,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,317,234.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,941 shares of company stock worth $1,545,582. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Webster Financial Price Performance

WBS stock traded up $1.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.39. 1,208,513 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 963,760. Webster Financial Co. has a one year low of $31.03 and a one year high of $53.39. The stock has a market cap of $7.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.02). Webster Financial had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 13.05%. The firm had revenue of $996.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $674.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 5th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is presently 32.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $51.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Webster Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.85.

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.