California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Stock Position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 120,350 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 4,921 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $15,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 55,020 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,971,000 after purchasing an additional 2,187 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 708.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 17,327 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,880,000 after buying an additional 15,185 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $286,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in Wintrust Financial by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,859 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,280 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,225,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $150.00 target price (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Truist Financial upgraded Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

WTFC stock opened at $96.28 on Friday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $89.10 and a 52-week high of $142.04. 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 stock has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $120.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.25.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company posted $1.87 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In related news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the company’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 transaction of $418,321.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,409,278.20. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total transaction of $54,475.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,042.20. This represents a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315 over the last quarter. 1.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.