Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 241,891 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,542 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.12% of Northern Trust worth $24,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $83,550,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Northern Trust by 201.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,791,000 after buying an additional 644,261 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Northern Trust by 451.9% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 555,631 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $56,866,000 after buying an additional 454,956 shares in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $42,715,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Northern Trust by 9.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $386,809,000 after buying an additional 388,692 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,242,722. The trade was a 4.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTRS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America cut their price target on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Northern Trust from $118.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.83.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS stock opened at $100.59 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.57 billion, a PE ratio of 10.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.18. Northern Trust Co. has a 52-week low of $79.68 and a 52-week high of $114.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $94.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.99%.

Northern Trust Profile

Northern Trust Corporation, a financial holding company, provides wealth management, asset servicing, asset management, and banking solutions for corporations, institutions, families, and individuals worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Servicing and Wealth Management. The Asset Servicing segment offers asset servicing and related services, including custody, fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, investment management, investment risk and analytical services, employee benefit services, securities lending, foreign exchange, treasury management, brokerage services, transition management services, banking, and cash management services.