Aberdeen Group plc Raises Holdings in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Aberdeen Group plc raised its position in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 7.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 195,922 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,633 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $26,371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 0.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,593,674 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,864,652,000 after buying an additional 188,472 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,793,757 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $988,170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,270,748 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,196,659 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $656,229,000 after purchasing an additional 184,726 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,501,628 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $443,971,000 after purchasing an additional 58,029 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 1.2% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,692,597 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $341,399,000 after purchasing an additional 33,227 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on NTRS. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $139.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $148.75.

Northern Trust Stock Up 0.6%

Northern Trust stock opened at $147.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.69. Northern Trust Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $81.62 and a fifty-two week high of $157.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $144.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.50.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.87% and a net margin of 12.15%.The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Clive Bellows sold 1,148 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.26, for a total value of $166,758.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 34,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,958,159.58. The trade was a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 245 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $151.85 per share, for a total transaction of $37,203.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 6,931 shares in the company, valued at $1,052,472.35. This trade represents a 3.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 27,191 shares of company stock worth $4,061,028 over the last 90 days. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.