Diversified Trust Co. Acquires New Stake in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Diversified Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,603 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $629,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 98.7% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 314 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,266 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,660,000 after buying an additional 14,846 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its position in Northern Trust by 219.0% in the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 5,012 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $722,000 after buying an additional 3,441 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 60.1% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 533 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital bought a new stake in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, Director Richard Petrino purchased 1,000 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $148.91 per share, for a total transaction of $148,910.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 3,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,168.12. This trade represents a 42.88% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,176,583.48. The trade was a 9.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 34,905 shares of company stock worth $5,166,714 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTRS has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Finally, Evercore boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.75.

Northern Trust Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $134.99 on Friday. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12-month low of $81.62 and a 12-month high of $157.60. The stock has a market cap of $25.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.27. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $144.06 and its 200-day moving average is $136.78.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 14.87%. Northern Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.61%.

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.