Geode Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 8.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,155,726 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 92,995 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 1.74% of Wintrust Financial worth $125,464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WTFC. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 0.8% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,049 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 11.7% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 866 shares of the bank's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.3% during the third quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH now owns 28,928 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,140,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.8% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,859 shares of the bank's stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the bank's stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WTFC shares. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $157.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $128.00.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 4.3 %

NASDAQ WTFC traded down $5.60 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $124.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 819,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 388,947. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 1.18. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $125.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Wintrust Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $89.68 and a twelve month high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($0.03). Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.99%. The business had revenue of $615.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $623.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.53 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Wintrust Financial's payout ratio is 18.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 1,607 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.46, for a total value of $182,330.22. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,687,604.04. The trade was a 9.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.48, for a total transaction of $1,789,016.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 197,591 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,817,808.68. The trade was a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,198 shares of company stock valued at $2,445,314 in the last ninety days. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.