Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Stock Position Raised by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 9.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $223,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Northern Trust by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 5,990 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $591,000 after buying an additional 869 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 1st quarter worth $11,352,000. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 45,011 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,440,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 373,515 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $36,847,000 after purchasing an additional 20,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,773 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.95, for a total value of $329,835.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,872,163.20. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Teresa Parker sold 6,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.62, for a total transaction of $650,709.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 79,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,988,322.42. The trade was a 7.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,772 shares of company stock worth $981,069. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $110.91 on Tuesday. Northern Trust Co. has a fifty-two week low of $80.45 and a fifty-two week high of $114.67. The stock has a market cap of $21.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.13.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 27.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on NTRS shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $118.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.42.

About Northern Trust

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.