Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 12.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,159 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,303 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $904,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Arjuna Capital acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the first quarter worth about $783,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 7.6% in the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 8,923 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $880,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 8.0% in the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,497 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the first quarter worth about $4,911,000. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 1.8% in the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,666 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $855,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NTRS shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northern Trust from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $89.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.58.

Northern Trust Stock Down 0.3%

NTRS stock opened at $125.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $23.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12 month low of $81.62 and a 12 month high of $133.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $121.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.79.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 11.75% and a return on equity of 14.06%. Northern Trust’s quarterly revenue was down 26.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.34 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is currently 35.25%.

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.