Confluence Investment Management LLC Sells 54,359 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Confluence Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,103,103 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 54,359 shares during the period. Northern Trust comprises about 2.3% of Confluence Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $150,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 2.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,947,456 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $262,128,000 after acquiring an additional 40,048 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,253,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $64,863,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 62.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 228.0% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 75,829 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,207,000 after purchasing an additional 52,711 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial set a $148.00 price target on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $136.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Evercore raised their target price on Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $139.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Northern Trust in a report on Monday, February 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. One equities research 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.75.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $135.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $145.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.16 billion, a PE ratio of 15.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.27. Northern Trust Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $81.62 and a fifty-two week high of $157.60.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 14.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is presently 36.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northern Trust news, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 3,255 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.89, for a total transaction of $468,361.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,093,887.28. The trade was a 18.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Guy Gibson sold 3,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.39, for a total value of $428,451.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 29,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,176,583.48. This trade represents a 9.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 34,905 shares of company stock worth $5,166,714 in the last quarter. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northern Trust 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.