ProShare Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 4,926 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $5,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 388,692 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $213,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,939 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $212,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 72.5% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $958,000 after buying an additional 3,928 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at $9,242,722. The trade was a 4.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.95, for a total transaction of $329,835.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,872,163.20. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,571 shares of company stock valued at $1,410,397 over the last quarter. 0.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $107.90 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $20.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.03, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.18. Northern Trust Co. has a 12 month low of $79.68 and a 12 month high of $114.67. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $95.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. Equities research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 27.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Northern Trust from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Northern Trust from $118.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.83.

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.