Lightrock Netherlands B.V. Makes New Investment in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Lightrock Netherlands B.V. bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 119,443 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $14,970,000. Wintrust Financial accounts for about 5.2% of Lightrock Netherlands B.V.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. owned about 0.18% of Wintrust Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WTFC. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 14.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,153,999 shares of the bank's stock valued at $559,364,000 after acquiring an additional 637,072 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 36.2% in the 3rd 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,308,254 shares of the bank's stock worth $141,981,000 after buying an additional 133,311 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,627,561 shares of the bank's stock worth $285,169,000 after buying an additional 126,724 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,155,726 shares of the bank's stock worth $125,464,000 after buying an additional 92,995 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wintrust Financial news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total transaction of $310,309.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,607,752.56. This trade represents a 10.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $553,209.03. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company's stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WTFC traded down $0.30 during trading on Friday, reaching $129.61. The stock had a trading volume of 458,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 459,036. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $129.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.14. The company has a market capitalization of $8.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Wintrust Financial Co. has a one year low of $91.38 and a one year high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. 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 yield of 1.54%. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on WTFC shares. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating 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 company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Wintrust Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James reissued 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. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $133.69.

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.