Allstate Corp Acquires 6,701 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Allstate Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 97.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,571 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,701 shares during the period. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $1,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,493,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,285,236,000 after acquiring an additional 97,584 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 6.0% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,378,196 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $320,092,000 after purchasing an additional 133,751 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised 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 worth $262,128,000 after purchasing an additional 40,048 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Northern Trust by 4.8% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,924,707 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $259,066,000 after buying an additional 88,699 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Northern Trust by 3.5% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,414,595 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $190,404,000 after buying an additional 48,417 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on NTRS. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $159.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised Northern Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Northern Trust in a report on Monday, February 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Northern Trust from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.08.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $168.35 on Friday. Northern Trust Corporation has a one year low of $104.99 and a one year high of $173.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $155.69 and a 200 day moving average of $145.76. The company has a market capitalization of $31.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.34. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. Northern Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.68 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.51%.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, insider Clive Bellows sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.02, for a total value of $462,056.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,656,369.34. This trade represents a 9.03% 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, insider Guy Gibson sold 3,009 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,064 shares of company stock valued at $4,682,064. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

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.