Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Shares Sold by Tudor Investment Corp ET AL

Tudor Investment Corp ET AL cut its stake in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 25.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 48,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,119 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $2,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 36.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 297,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,883,000 after buying an additional 79,556 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Webster Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $305,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 58.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 31,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 11,639 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Webster Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $252,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Webster Financial Trading Up 4.0 %

NYSE:WBS opened at $49.71 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.98. Webster Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $39.34 and a 1-year 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 announced its earnings results 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). Webster Financial had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 18.39%. The firm had revenue of $704.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $708.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $700.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management 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 paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Daniel Bley sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,029,373.28. This represents a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total transaction of $780,728.19. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,988.56. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,017 shares of company stock worth $1,326,280 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada set a $60.00 target price on shares of Webster Financial and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Webster Financial from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.73.

Webster Financial Company 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.