This Insider Has Just Sold Shares In Wintrust Financial

We wouldn't blame Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Richard Murphy, the Vice Chairman & Chief Lending Officer recently netted about US$1.1m selling shares at an average price of US$149. That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 19%, which is notable but not too bad.

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Wintrust Financial Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Vice Chairman & COO, David Dykstra, sold US$2.2m worth of shares at a price of US$163 per share. So what is clear is that an insider saw fit to sell at around the current price of US$151. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. We note that this sale took place at around the current price, so it isn't a major concern, though it's hardly a good sign.

Insiders in Wintrust Financial didn't buy any shares in the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

See our latest analysis for Wintrust Financial

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Insider Ownership Of Wintrust Financial

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It's great to see that Wintrust Financial insiders own 1.3% of the company, worth about US$135m. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Wintrust Financial Tell Us?

Insiders sold Wintrust Financial shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. But it is good to see that Wintrust Financial is growing earnings. While insiders do own a lot of shares in the company (which is good), our analysis of their transactions doesn't make us feel confident about the company. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. For example - Wintrust Financial has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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