Shaker Investments LLC OH Sells 231 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Shaker Investments LLC OH decreased its position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,697 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 231 shares during the quarter. Wintrust Financial makes up approximately 1.5% of Shaker Investments LLC OH’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Shaker Investments LLC OH’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $3,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WTFC. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,153,999 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $559,364,000 after purchasing an additional 637,072 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 36.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,132,000 after buying an additional 213,559 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 11.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,308,254 shares of the bank’s stock worth $141,981,000 after acquiring an additional 133,311 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised 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 acquiring an additional 126,724 shares during the period. Finally, Lightrock Netherlands B.V. bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,970,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on WTFC. Barclays raised their target price on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total transaction of $54,475.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,042.20. This trade represents a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total transaction of $310,309.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,607,752.56. This represents a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $129.07 on Tuesday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $90.29 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $8.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $129.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.68.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.40%.

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.