Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 69,287 Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 69,287 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $9,326,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NTRS. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 13.1% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 682 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 29,132 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,694,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Welch Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 2.8% in the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 3,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 10.0% during the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,032 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, Twin Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,071 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Landers sold 766 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.35, for a total transaction of $95,252.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 7,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $909,371.55. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Susan Cohen Levy sold 27,591 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.13, for a total transaction of $3,535,234.83. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 48,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,183,169.41. This trade represents a 36.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on NTRS. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Northern Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $136.00.

Northern Trust Stock Up 0.8%

NTRS stock opened at $144.42 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.27. Northern Trust Corporation has a 52 week low of $81.62 and a 52 week high of $148.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $136.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.37% and a net margin of 11.99%.The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter. Equities analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.30%.

Northern Trust Company Profile

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ: NTRS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in Chicago that provides asset servicing, asset management and wealth management solutions to institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals. The company’s core businesses include custody and fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, trust and fiduciary services, private banking, and retirement and defined contribution plan services.

Northern Trust’s product and service offerings span custody and fund accounting, portfolio and performance analytics, securities lending, cash management and foreign exchange, as well as discretionary and non-discretionary investment management.