Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 0.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,265,800 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 7,057 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $175,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $111,924,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the third quarter worth about $90,187,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in Wintrust Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $59,287,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in Wintrust Financial in the first quarter worth about $34,272,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 491.6% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 254,329 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $35,560,000 after acquiring an additional 211,338 shares during the period. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In related news, Director Suzet M. Mckinney sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.96, for a total value of $74,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,303 shares in the company, valued at $492,014.88. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 3,020 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.45, for a total transaction of $454,359.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,987,895.85. The trade was a 18.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 13,099 shares of company stock worth $1,954,386 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.24% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $162.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.98. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $119.61 and a 1 year high of $164.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $154.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $148.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.61 and a beta of 0.84.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The bank reported $3.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.96 by $0.26. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 20.11%.The company had revenue of $713.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $707.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 13.03 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTFC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Wintrust Financial from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $170.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.92.

Wintrust Financial Profile

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.