Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV Sells 8,254 Shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV cut its position in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 46,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,254 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $2,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Webster Financial during the third quarter valued at $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 340.7% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Webster Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Webster Financial by 117.9% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Webster Financial by 45.9% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Webster Financial

In other news, insider Daniel Bley sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.91, for a total transaction of $30,955.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,742.89. The trade was a 2.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Javier L. Evans sold 10,137 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.41, for a total value of $581,965.17. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 22,657 shares in the company, valued at $1,300,738.37. This trade represents a 30.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,250 shares of company stock worth $2,105,322. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WBS shares. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Webster Financial from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stephens set a $58.00 price target on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Webster Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.46.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WBS opened at $55.30 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $57.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.41. Webster Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $39.33 and a 52-week high of $63.99. The company has a market cap of $9.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $647.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $677.72 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 18.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is currently 36.28%.

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.