LPL Financial LLC Purchases 677 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS – Get Rating) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,954 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $2,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dupont Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 545 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.3% during the third quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. now owns 9,507 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 15,487 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in Northern Trust by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 17,367 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,537,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Ropes Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Ropes Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,242 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,880,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.44% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $72.20 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $15.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 1.07. Northern Trust Co. has a 1-year low of $69.54 and a 1-year high of $113.15.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.30% and a net margin of 14.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 6.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 9th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 8th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 51.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on NTRS. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Northern Trust from $87.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $84.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Northern Trust from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $97.00 to $96.50 in a report on Monday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lauren E. Allnutt sold 559 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $48,800.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $486,784.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Profile

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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.