Jennison Associates LLC Purchases 301,528 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 102.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 596,632 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 301,528 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.97% of Wintrust Financial worth $55,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WTFC. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 347.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 824 shares of the bank's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 13,223 shares of the bank's stock valued at $998,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Shaker Investments LLC OH increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 99.7% during the 3rd quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH now owns 34,135 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,577,000 after purchasing an additional 17,041 shares during the period. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 652,206 shares of the bank's stock worth $49,242,000 after buying an additional 30,279 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total value of $57,553.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $333,770.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total value of $57,553.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $333,770.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total value of $943,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 177,124 shares in the company, valued at $17,599,040.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,309 shares of company stock valued at $1,023,730. 1.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTFC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $116.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.33.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 0.3 %

WTFC traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $100.13. 219,393 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 413,225. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $98.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.40. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $58.12 and a 1 year high of $105.29.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $604.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.80 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.86% and a return on equity of 13.09%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, February 8th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. Wintrust Financial's payout ratio is 18.61%.

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.