Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS Shares Bought by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 131.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 29,887 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,960 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $3,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,517 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,353 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 836 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 1st quarter valued at about $822,000. Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 8,456 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $834,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 56.6% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,571 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 1,652 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.7%

Northern Trust stock opened at $129.88 on Thursday. Northern Trust Corporation has a 52-week low of $81.62 and a 52-week high of $135.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $129.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

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. Northern Trust had a net margin of 11.75% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.34 EPS. Northern Trust’s revenue was down 26.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a positive change from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is presently 37.60%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 256 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $126.34 per share, for a total transaction of $32,343.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $319,008.50. This represents a 11.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRS has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $135.00 price target on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Northern Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $142.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Northern Trust from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.23.

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.