American Century Companies Inc. Has $80.41 Million Holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 644,778 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,117 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.97% of Wintrust Financial worth $80,410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WTFC. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 530.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 39,135 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,247,000 after buying an additional 32,926 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,132,000 after acquiring an additional 213,559 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 80,782 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,767,000 after acquiring an additional 4,562 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,627,561 shares of the bank’s stock worth $285,169,000 after purchasing an additional 126,724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 13.8% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 237,311 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,755,000 after purchasing an additional 28,727 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WTFC shares. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group began coverage on Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 2.5 %

WTFC opened at $116.28 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $124.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.12. The company has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 1.16. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $91.38 and a 1-year high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is currently 19.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wintrust Financial news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 19,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,607,752.56. The trade was a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315. 1.47% of the stock is owned by 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.