David A. Dykstra Sells 4,213 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Stock

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total value of $553,209.03. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 206,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,088,465.14. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 0.5 %

WTFC traded up $0.72 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $132.83. The stock had a trading volume of 531,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 514,458. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.31. The company has a market capitalization of $8.83 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 1.20. 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.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (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 last year, the company posted $1.87 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WTFC. StockNews.com lowered Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.69.

Institutional Trading of Wintrust Financial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 530.3% during the third 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. increased its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,132,000 after purchasing an additional 213,559 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 80,782 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,562 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 5.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 7.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 203,285 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,063,000 after buying an additional 14,699 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Company 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.