Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Raises Stock Position in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,455,996 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,322 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $342,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NTRS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $257,410,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $126,794,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Northern Trust by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,723,516 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $235,415,000 after acquiring an additional 703,985 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 114.1% during the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,031,579 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $140,903,000 after acquiring an additional 549,681 shares during the period. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,126,000. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Northern Trust from $157.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Northern Trust from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $178.75.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $185.06 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.15. Northern Trust Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $118.99 and a fifty-two week high of $191.60. The company has a market capitalization of $34.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted 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. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other news, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 18,588 shares in the company, valued at $3,088,582.08. This trade represents a 51.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 225 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $166.41 per share, with a total value of $37,442.25. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,145 shares in the company, valued at $1,355,409.45. The trade was a 2.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,800 shares of company stock worth $3,785,251. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.