Equitable Trust Co. Buys 1,020 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Equitable Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 41.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,488 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $259,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NTRS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 2.1% during 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 last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Northern Trust by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,460,839 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $921,914,000 after buying an additional 731,301 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,108,597 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $450,221,000 after acquiring an additional 772,279 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Northern Trust by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,464,322 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $392,593,000 after acquiring an additional 98,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 7.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,356,850 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $390,906,000 after acquiring an additional 239,723 shares during the period. 81.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northern Trust Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $73.84 on Wednesday. Northern Trust Co. has a 52-week low of $62.44 and a 52-week high of $100.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $69.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.95.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 18th. The asset manager reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.06% and a net margin of 10.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.80 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 8th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 7th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 56.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other news, CFO Jason J. Tyler bought 1,350 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.55 per share, for a total transaction of $87,142.50. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,651,520.35. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Northern Trust news, EVP Susan Cohen Levy purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $64.41 per share, with a total value of $322,050.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,002,184.85. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jason J. Tyler acquired 1,350 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $64.55 per share, for a total transaction of $87,142.50. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,651,520.35. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 26,356 shares of company stock worth $1,711,872 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on NTRS. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Northern Trust from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 19th. StockNews.com raised Northern Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $87.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $82.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.55.

Northern Trust Profile

Northern Trust Corporation, a financial holding company, provides wealth management, asset servicing, asset management, and banking solutions for corporations, institutions, families, and individuals worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Servicing and Wealth Management. The Asset Servicing segment offers asset servicing and related services, including custody, fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, investment management, investment risk and analytical services, employee benefit services, securities lending, foreign exchange, treasury management, brokerage services, transition management services, banking, and cash management services.