American Century Companies Inc. Sells 2,117 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

American Century Companies Inc. cut its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 644,778 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,117 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $80,410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $411,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Wintrust Financial by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 22,726 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 2,099 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 128.9% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,980 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 7,523 shares of the bank’s stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTFC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial raised shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays raised their target price on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $116.28 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 1.16. Wintrust Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $91.38 and a fifty-two week high of $142.04. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.12.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.87 EPS. Analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.40%.

Insider Activity

In other Wintrust Financial news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total value of $418,321.80. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total transaction of $553,209.03. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 206,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,088,465.14. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315 in the last 90 days. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wintrust Financial Profile

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.