Phocas Financial Corp. Sells 109,851 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Phocas Financial Corp. reduced its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 85.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,390 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 109,851 shares during the quarter. Wintrust Financial makes up about 1.8% of Phocas Financial Corp.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $2,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jane Street Group LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 32,926 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 6.0% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 80,782 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,767,000 after buying an additional 4,562 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 36.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,132,000 after buying an additional 213,559 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 126,724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $499,000. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wintrust Financial news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total transaction of $553,209.03. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 206,294 shares in the company, valued at $27,088,465.14. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total value of $418,321.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,409,278.20. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315. 1.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 0.7 %

WTFC opened at $122.80 on Wednesday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $91.38 and a fifty-two week high of $142.04. The company’s 50-day moving average is $128.71 and its 200 day moving average is $120.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.91 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WTFC. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective (up from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.

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.