Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) EVP Thomas South Sells 1,800 Shares

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) EVP Thomas South sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.90, for a total value of $332,820.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 92,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,180,353.30. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $186.82 on Wednesday. Northern Trust Corporation has a one year low of $121.12 and a one year high of $195.78. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $182.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.25.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The asset manager reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $1.52. Northern Trust had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. Northern Trust’s revenue was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.59 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This is a positive change from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.47%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,959,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1,838.1% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 180,034 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $22,793,000 after acquiring an additional 170,745 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,894,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $395,395,000 after acquiring an additional 161,826 shares during the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $67,126,000. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 83.0% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 136,403 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $18,631,000 after acquiring an additional 61,858 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NTRS. Zacks Research upgraded Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Northern Trust from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial increased their target price on Northern Trust from $176.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Evercore set a $179.00 price target on Northern Trust in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $180.68.

About Northern Trust

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.