Aberdeen Group plc Sells 32,731 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Aberdeen Group plc reduced its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 163,191 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 32,731 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $22,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. 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 worth $43,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the second quarter worth about $48,000. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Evercore raised their price target 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. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $136.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Northern Trust in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Northern Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.91.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NTRS stock opened at $142.25 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $143.39 and its 200 day moving average is $137.29. The stock has a market cap of $26.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Northern Trust Corporation has a 1-year low of $81.62 and a 1-year 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. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 14.87%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict 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 was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is currently 36.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard Petrino bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $148.91 per share, for a total transaction of $148,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,168.12. The trade was a 42.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Clive Bellows sold 1,148 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 34,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,958,159.58. This represents a 3.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 34,905 shares of company stock valued at $5,166,714 in the last three months. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.