New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lowered its stake in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS – Get Rating) by 24.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,300 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's holdings in Webster Financial were worth $1,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBS. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Webster Financial by 0.5% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 41,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,346,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Webster Financial by 55.5% during the first quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 675 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in Webster Financial by 1.1% during the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,577 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in Webster Financial by 7.6% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 4,298 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Webster Financial by 10.9% during the first quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on WBS shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Webster Financial from $62.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, July 11th. Raymond James decreased their target price on Webster Financial from $73.00 to $57.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Webster Financial from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 1st. Wedbush cut Webster Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, June 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Webster Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.25.

Webster Financial Price Performance

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.04. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 11.53% and a net margin of 20.70%. The business had revenue of $607.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $602.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 106.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 1st. Webster Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Webster Financial news, COO Luis Massiani sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.43, for a total transaction of $371,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 152,910 shares in the company, valued at $7,099,611.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.85% of the company's stock.

Webster Financial Profile

(Get Rating)

Webster Financial Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services to individuals, families, and businesses. It operates through the following business segments: Commercial Banking, HSA Bank, and Retail Banking. The Commercial Banking segment includes commercial banking and private banking.

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