Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 9,357 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC cut its stake in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 24.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,393 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 9,357 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $4,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $257,410,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $126,794,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 114.1% in the fourth 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. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $67,126,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 67.1% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,019,531 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $136,750,000 after acquiring an additional 409,434 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NTRS shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $153.50 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $155.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Northern Trust from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.08.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $169.11 on Tuesday. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12 month low of $107.08 and a 12 month high of $173.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $160.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $31.29 billion, a PE ratio of 17.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.25.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Clive Bellows sold 2,800 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.02, for a total value of $462,056.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 28,217 shares in the company, valued at $4,656,369.34. This trade represents a 9.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,088,582.08. This trade represents a 51.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 22,800 shares of company stock worth $3,785,251 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

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.