Jennison Associates LLC Reduces Stock Position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 526,822 shares of the bank's stock after selling 9,430 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.79% of Wintrust Financial worth $65,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Wintrust Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 512 shares of the bank's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $61,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 32.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTFC has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with 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 has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $133.69.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In related news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the company'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 owns 206,294 shares in the company, valued at $27,088,465.14. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the firm's 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315 in the last three months. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 0.9 %

WTFC stock traded down $1.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $130.04. The company had a trading volume of 293,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 467,056. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $90.29 and a 52 week high of $142.04. The business has a 50 day moving average of $130.07 and a 200 day moving average of $118.40. The company has a market cap of $8.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 1.19.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period last year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial's payout ratio is 17.46%.

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.