Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Has $9.31 Million Holdings in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 168,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,710 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. owned 0.10% of Webster Financial worth $9,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Webster Financial by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Webster Financial in the fourth quarter worth $3,549,000. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Webster Financial by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 6,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Webster Financial by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,507,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,253,000 after purchasing an additional 38,713 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Webster Financial by 47.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.43, for a total value of $459,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 210,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,063,228.93. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of Webster Financial 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 directly owns 18,808 shares in the company, 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. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WBS shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Webster Financial from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Webster Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.08.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:WBS opened at $53.11 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $57.47 and its 200-day moving average is $53.92. Webster Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $39.34 and a 1-year high of $63.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $9.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.28.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $661.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $687.53 million. Webster Financial had a net margin of 18.39% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is 36.61%.

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.