Heartland Advisors Inc. Makes New $11.46 Million Investment in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 65,924 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $11,460,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Northern Trust in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,523,781,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,493,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,285,236,000 after purchasing an additional 97,584 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,747,840 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $511,917,000 after purchasing an additional 301,164 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,894,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $395,395,000 after purchasing an additional 161,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,455,996 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $342,744,000 after buying an additional 36,322 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NTRS opened at $183.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.79, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12-month low of $121.12 and a 12-month high of $195.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $181.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $163.27.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Northern Trust had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The company had revenue of $2.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This is a positive change from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northern Trust news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 255 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $179.57 per share, with a total value of $45,790.35. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,388. This trade represents a 3.13% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on NTRS. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Northern Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $178.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $189.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial raised their target price on Northern Trust from $176.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $180.68.

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.