Freedom Investment Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,906 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 351 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $641,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $286,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 708.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 17,327 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,880,000 after purchasing an additional 15,185 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $61,000. FMR LLC grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 14.1% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 4.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 55,020 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,971,000 after purchasing an additional 2,187 shares during the period. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of WTFC opened at $138.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $117.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.01. Wintrust Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $82.90 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.50 and a beta of 1.15.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $615.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $623.45 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTFC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In other news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total value of $473,967.37. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,311 shares in the company, valued at $4,892,420.93. This represents a 8.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 1,607 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.46, for a total value of $182,330.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,687,604.04. This represents a 9.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,198 shares of company stock worth $2,445,314. 1.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.