Forsta AP Fonden Sells 1,100 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Forsta AP Fonden trimmed its stake in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $3,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NTRS. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 47.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,810,816 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $178,637,000 after purchasing an additional 585,992 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Northern Trust by 60.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,497,484 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $153,493,000 after acquiring an additional 562,976 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,197,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 10,340.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 445,602 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $43,959,000 after acquiring an additional 441,334 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 529.4% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 461,383 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $45,515,000 after acquiring an additional 388,081 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northern Trust Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $125.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $23.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.28. Northern Trust Corporation has a one year low of $81.62 and a one year high of $133.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $121.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 11.75%. Northern Trust’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.34 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 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 Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is a boost from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is currently 35.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on NTRS shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Northern Trust from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $123.00 price target on shares of Northern Trust and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $89.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.58.

About Northern Trust

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.