Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Takes $425,000 Position in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,112 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $425,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 98.7% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 314 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $165.27 on Tuesday. Northern Trust Corporation has a one year low of $104.09 and a one year high of $173.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $30.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $143.54.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The company’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Northern Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Northern Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $166.41 per share, with a total value of $37,442.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,145 shares in the company, valued at $1,355,409.45. This trade represents a 2.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total transaction of $3,321,039.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,088,582.08. This represents a 51.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,514 shares of company stock valued at $4,890,937. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Northern Trust

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.