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

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 48,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,409,278.20. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock opened at $131.89 on Friday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $89.68 and a 12-month high of $142.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the business earned $1.87 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is currently 19.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTFC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.69.

Institutional Trading of Wintrust Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 530.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 39,135 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,247,000 after buying an additional 32,926 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 36.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,132,000 after acquiring an additional 213,559 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 6.0% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 80,782 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,767,000 after acquiring an additional 4,562 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,627,561 shares of the bank’s stock worth $285,169,000 after purchasing an additional 126,724 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 7.8% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 203,285 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,063,000 after buying an additional 14,699 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.