Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 25.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 123,295 shares of the bank's stock after selling 41,583 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.19% of Wintrust Financial worth $15,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WTFC. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,002,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 63,172 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,878,000 after buying an additional 15,930 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Wintrust Financial by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,319 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,162,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Wintrust Financial by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 15,790 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $1,076,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Wintrust Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Hovde Group increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $145.00 to $132.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $133.54.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of WTFC traded down $0.59 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $121.72. The company had a trading volume of 55,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 423,893. The company has a market capitalization of $8.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.81. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $89.10 and a 12-month high of $142.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $643.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.11 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.52% and a return on equity of 12.60%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.89 EPS. Research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.78%.

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.