National Pension Service Trims Stock Holdings in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

National Pension Service lowered its stake in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 402,797 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,234 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.22% of Northern Trust worth $70,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Northern Trust by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,894,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $395,395,000 after purchasing an additional 161,826 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 1,838.1% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 180,034 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,793,000 after buying an additional 170,745 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the first quarter worth $2,303,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 5.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 622,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $86,931,000 after buying an additional 33,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $890,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 1,800 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.90, for a total value of $332,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 92,917 shares in the company, valued at $17,180,353.30. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Moritz, Jr. purchased 255 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $179.57 per share, with a total value of $45,790.35. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,388. This represents a 3.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northern Trust Trading Up 1.1%

NTRS opened at $189.19 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $184.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12 month low of $121.12 and a 12 month high of $195.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.24.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The asset manager reported $4.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $1.52. The company had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 14.76%.Northern Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is a positive change from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 30.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRS has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Northern Trust from $179.50 to $185.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $176.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group set a $186.00 price target on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $180.68.

Northern Trust Company Profile

Northern Trust Corporation is a financial services company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and the holding company for Northern Trust Company and related businesses. Founded in 1889, the company provides banking, investment management and fiduciary services to corporations, institutions, high-net-worth individuals, families and privately held businesses.

Northern Trust’s institutional offerings include asset custody and servicing, fund administration, securities lending, foreign exchange, treasury services, capital markets support and related solutions.