Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS Shares Sold by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 36.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,779 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 39,456 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $9,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 122.6% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 48,284 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,595,000 after buying an additional 26,594 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,959,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 119.9% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 83,175 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,195,000 after acquiring an additional 45,356 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,266 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,660,000 after acquiring an additional 14,846 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Northern Trust by 1,838.1% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 180,034 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,793,000 after acquiring an additional 170,745 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northern Trust Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $184.68 on Friday. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12 month low of $118.99 and a 12 month high of $191.60. The company has a market cap of $34.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.37.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.84%.Northern Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total value of $3,321,039.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $166.41 per share, for a total transaction of $37,442.25. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,355,409.45. This trade represents a 2.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 22,800 shares of company stock worth $3,785,251 over the last ninety days. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NTRS shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $175.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $170.00 to $179.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $157.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $178.75.

Northern Trust 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.