Qsemble Capital Management LP Sells 18,598 Shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Qsemble Capital Management LP reduced its stake in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 57.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,598 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in Webster Financial by 1,859.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 15,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $684,000 after buying an additional 14,891 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 44.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 264,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,439,000 after purchasing an additional 81,201 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 13.5% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 170,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,447,000 after purchasing an additional 20,300 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Webster Financial by 402.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,628,000 after purchasing an additional 25,683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Webster Financial by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,640,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,096,000 after purchasing an additional 301,935 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Webster Financial from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Webster Financial from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Webster Financial from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.85.

Insider Activity

In other Webster Financial news, Director Mark Pettie sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.14, for a total transaction of $230,130.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 32,780 shares in the company, valued at $1,676,369.20. This trade represents a 12.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Albert Jen-Wen Wang sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.43, for a total value of $209,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $748,333.39. The trade was a 21.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,750 shares of company stock worth $2,074,367. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Webster Financial Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of WBS stock opened at $62.02 on Wednesday. Webster Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $39.33 and a 1 year high of $63.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.27.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). The firm 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 36.28%.

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.