Comerica Bank Increases Stock Position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Comerica Bank raised its position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 40,848 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 4,375 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank's holdings in Northern Trust were worth $4,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NTRS. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,486,616 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $767,378,000 after acquiring an additional 92,162 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Northern Trust by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,904,871 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $501,444,000 after purchasing an additional 30,908 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $386,809,000 after buying an additional 388,692 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,885,312 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $295,744,000 after buying an additional 202,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,532,401 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $259,571,000 after acquiring an additional 39,592 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust Stock Up 0.2 %

Northern Trust stock traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $100.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,393,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,263,850. The company has a market cap of $19.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.88. Northern Trust Co. has a fifty-two week low of $79.68 and a fifty-two week high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.95 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $429,852.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,242,722. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northern Trust from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Northern Trust from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $110.83.

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation, a financial holding company, provides wealth management, asset servicing, asset management, and banking solutions for corporations, institutions, families, and individuals worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Servicing and Wealth Management. The Asset Servicing segment offers asset servicing and related services, including custody, fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, investment management, investment risk and analytical services, employee benefit services, securities lending, foreign exchange, treasury management, brokerage services, transition management services, banking, and cash management services.