Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. cut its position in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 17.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 862,069 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 186,747 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $96,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WTFC. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1,264.7% in the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 232 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In related news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 14,942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.53, for a total value of $1,965,321.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 182,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,965,818.24. This trade represents a 7.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward J. Wehmer acquired 3,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.35 per share, with a total value of $103,265.65. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 3,919 shares in the company, valued at $103,265.65. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on WTFC shares. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $137.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (up from $141.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.31.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $139.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.40. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $89.10 and a 12-month high of $142.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $670.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.43 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.08% and a net margin of 18.06%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 7th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.92%.

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.