First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 88,699 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,924,707 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 88,699 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 1.02% of Northern Trust worth $259,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HUB Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Northern Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $432,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in Northern Trust by 62.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,042,084 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $140,265,000 after purchasing an additional 400,247 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 92.2% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 16,680 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 8,001 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 19,735 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,656,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $980,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Northern Trust from $139.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial set a $148.00 price target on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $148.75.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, insider Guy Gibson sold 3,009 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.39, for a total value of $428,451.51. Following the transaction, the insider owned 29,332 shares in the company, valued at $4,176,583.48. The trade was a 9.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Clive Bellows sold 1,148 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.26, for a total transaction of $166,758.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 34,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,958,159.58. This represents a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 34,905 shares of company stock valued at $5,166,714 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS stock opened at $138.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.27. Northern Trust Corporation has a 52-week low of $81.62 and a 52-week high of $157.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company’s 50 day moving average is $145.64 and its 200 day moving average is $136.03.

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

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.61%.

Northern Trust Company Profile

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.