48,000 Shares in Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC Acquired by Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC

Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 48,000 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $6,357,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 27.1% during the third quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 572,816 shares of the bank’s stock worth $75,864,000 after purchasing an additional 122,221 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4.1% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 124,170 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,445,000 after purchasing an additional 4,861 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,071,763 shares of the bank’s stock worth $141,944,000 after buying an additional 15,044 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 99,972 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,240,000 after buying an additional 7,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 17,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,345,000 after buying an additional 1,368 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, insider David Eric Lee sold 558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.42, for a total transaction of $82,260.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 16,085 shares in the company, valued at $2,371,250.70. This trade represents a 3.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,291 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total value of $480,650.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,725,456.45. This represents a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 11,662 shares of company stock valued at $1,705,730 over the last ninety days. 1.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock opened at $130.21 on Monday. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $89.10 and a twelve month high of $162.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.85.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $3.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.22. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The firm had revenue of $714.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $700.85 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.63 EPS. Analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 5th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTFC has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $176.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $167.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. DA Davidson increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.31.

About Wintrust Financial

Wintrust Financial Corporation is a Chicago‐area bank holding company headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois. Through its primary subsidiary, Wintrust Bank, the company operates a network of community banks serving metropolitan Chicago and select markets in southeastern Wisconsin. These locally branded banks provide personalized commercial and consumer banking solutions tailored to small and mid‐size businesses, professionals, and individual clients.

The firm’s core offerings include deposit products, commercial and residential lending, treasury management, and mortgage banking services.