Moore Capital Management LP Sells 169,443 Shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Moore Capital Management LP decreased its holdings in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 35.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 314,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 169,443 shares during the quarter. Moore Capital Management LP’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $17,377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WBS. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,493,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,007,000 after acquiring an additional 99,908 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Webster Financial by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,620,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $365,601,000 after purchasing an additional 45,310 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,130,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $228,000,000 after buying an additional 35,039 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,154,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,173,000 after buying an additional 116,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,948,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $162,828,000 after acquiring an additional 114,375 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel Bley sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.97, for a total transaction of $59,964.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,317 shares in the company, valued at $1,015,240.49. This represents a 5.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,217 shares of company stock valued at $1,386,244 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:WBS opened at $49.86 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.98. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.31. Webster Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $39.34 and a 1 year high of $63.99.

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

Webster Financial announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $700.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 8.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.