First Trust Advisors LP Boosts Stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS – Get Rating) by 22.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 88,956 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,085 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $7,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,711,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,644,763,000 after purchasing an additional 457,748 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,876,325 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $856,388,000 after purchasing an additional 352,056 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 48.7% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,612,225 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $444,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510,570 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Northern Trust by 51.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,457,214 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $295,798,000 after buying an additional 1,174,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,356,850 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $390,906,000 after purchasing an additional 239,723 shares in the last quarter. 81.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on NTRS. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $121.00 to $115.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Northern Trust from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, January 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $97.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.05.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $82.21 on Tuesday. Northern Trust Co. has a 1-year low of $76.15 and a 1-year high of $121.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $17.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39 and a beta of 1.08.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 19th. The asset manager reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.81 by ($1.10). The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 17.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 9th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other news, CFO Jason J. Tyler sold 1,764 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.98, for a total value of $171,072.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,954,980.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

About Northern Trust

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Northern Trust Corp. is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of asset servicing, fund administration, asset management, fiduciary, and banking solutions for corporations, institutions, families, and individuals. It operates through the following segments: Corporate & Institutional Services and Wealth Management.