California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 4,921 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,350 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 4,921 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.18% of Wintrust Financial worth $15,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the bank’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,307,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in Wintrust Financial by 1.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the bank’s stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gitterman Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,373 shares of the bank’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTFC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial raised Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total value of $310,309.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,607,752.56. This represents a 10.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $27,088,465.14. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315. 1.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock opened at $96.28 on Friday. 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 12-month low of $89.10 and a 12-month high of $142.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.25.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.87 EPS. Analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.40%.

Wintrust Financial 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.