Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Cuts Position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 800,744 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,097 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $99,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WTFC. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,153,999 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $559,364,000 after buying an additional 637,072 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,627,561 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $285,169,000 after buying an additional 126,724 shares in the last quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,970,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 92,995 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $112.86 on Monday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $91.38 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.75. 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 (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the business posted $1.87 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTFC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report 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. 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, Truist Financial raised Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total transaction of $54,475.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at $298,042.20. This represents a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total value of $310,309.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 19,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,607,752.56. This trade represents a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.