ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 5,743 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,794 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,743 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $6,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Northern Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 87.4% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 208 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 5,225.0% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 213 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Caldwell Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the second quarter valued at about $48,000. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Landers sold 766 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.35, for a total value of $95,252.10. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $909,371.55. The trade was a 9.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.62, for a total value of $3,740,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 26,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,928,871.58. This represents a 48.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NTRS. Wall Street Zen upgraded Northern Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen raised their target price on Northern Trust from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $148.75.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $144.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $143.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.09. Northern Trust Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $81.62 and a fifty-two week high of $157.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.27.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 14.87%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.61%.

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.