2,758 Shares in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Bought by Inceptionr LLC

Inceptionr LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,758 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $344,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTFC. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in Wintrust Financial by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 10,539 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 11.3% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 16,713 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,814,000 after purchasing an additional 1,693 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 5.2% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 8,122 shares of the bank’s stock worth $881,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the third quarter worth $273,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 77.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 653 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total value of $54,475.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,042.20. This represents a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,409,278.20. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ WTFC opened at $112.86 on Monday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $91.38 and a 12 month high of $142.04. The company has a market cap of $7.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 1.16. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.75.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced 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 earned $1.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WTFC shares. StockNews.com cut Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 target price for the company. One equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.69.

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.