Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Insider Richard B. Murphy Sells 3,186 Shares

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total transaction of $418,321.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 48,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,409,278.20. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 0.8 %

WTFC traded down $1.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $130.81. The company had a trading volume of 321,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 463,057. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $89.68 and a 1-year high of $142.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a PE ratio of 12.69 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $130.95 and a 200-day moving average of $117.77.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.3 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. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 14.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,153,999 shares of the bank's stock worth $559,364,000 after purchasing an additional 637,072 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 213,559 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,308,254 shares of the bank's stock valued at $141,981,000 after buying an additional 133,311 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 126,724 shares during the period. Finally, Lightrock Netherlands B.V. bought a new position in Wintrust Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $14,970,000. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WTFC shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $152.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Wintrust Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $133.69.

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.