2,404 Shares in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS Purchased by Patton Fund Management Inc.

Key Points

• Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased 2,404 shares of Northern Trust Corporation, valued at approximately $305,000, during the second quarter.
• Northern Trust has recently declared an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.75 to $0.80, reflecting a positive change in shareholder returns.
• The company is projected to post an earnings per share (EPS) of 8.27 for the current year, despite a decrease in revenue of 26.4% year-over-year.

Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,404 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 47.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,810,816 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $178,637,000 after buying an additional 585,992 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 19.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,443,599 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $339,711,000 after buying an additional 558,287 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 10,340.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 445,602 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $43,959,000 after buying an additional 441,334 shares in the last quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust during the first quarter worth about $41,905,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust during the first quarter worth about $41,834,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NTRS opened at $133.31 on Friday. Northern Trust Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $81.62 and a fifty-two week high of $135.00. The company has a market capitalization of $25.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $128.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.96 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 11.75%.The business's revenue was down 26.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This is a positive change from Northern Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTRS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Northern Trust from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $123.00 price target on shares of Northern Trust and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $119.58.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $126.34 per share, with a total value of $32,343.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,525 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $319,008.50. The trade was a 11.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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