Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Insider Richard B. Murphy Sells 3,186 Shares

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total value of $418,321.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,409,278.20. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Wintrust Financial stock traded up $0.72 on Wednesday, reaching $132.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 531,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 514,458. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $131.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Wintrust Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $89.68 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The company has a market cap of $8.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 1.20.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.52% and a return on equity of 12.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WTFC. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $150.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.69.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WTFC. Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Wintrust Financial by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 11,955 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,491,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,307,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,970,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter worth $499,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 44.3% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 19,806 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,470,000 after acquiring an additional 6,081 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

About Wintrust Financial

Wintrust Financial Corporation operates as a financial holding company. It operates in three segments: Community Banking, Specialty Finance, and Wealth Management. The Community Banking segment offers non-interest bearing deposits, non-brokered interest-bearing transaction accounts, and savings and domestic time deposits; home equity, consumer, and real estate loans; safe deposit facilities; and automatic teller machine (ATM), online and mobile banking, and other services.