ABN Amro Investment Solutions Sells 26,781 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Key Points

• ABN Amro Investment Solutions cut its Northern Trust stake by 79.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 26,781 shares and ending with 6,794 shares worth about $928,000.
• Northern Trust reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.71 versus the $2.37 estimate and revenue of $2.21 billion, up 13.8% from a year earlier.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, payable July 1, for an annualized yield of about 1.9%; analysts currently rate the stock a Hold on average with a $164.08 target price.

ABN Amro Investment Solutions lowered its holdings in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 79.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,794 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 26,781 shares during the quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions' holdings in Northern Trust were worth $928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in Northern Trust by 1.0% in 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Northern Trust by 6.0% in 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 buying an additional 133,751 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position 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 valued at $262,128,000 after buying an additional 40,048 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Northern Trust by 4.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Northern Trust by 3.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 225 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $166.41 per share, with a total value of $37,442.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 8,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,355,409.45. This trade represents a 2.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Clive Bellows sold 2,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.02, for a total transaction of $462,056.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 28,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,656,369.34. The trade was a 9.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,514 shares of company stock valued at $4,890,937. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $167.77 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $153.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.52. Northern Trust Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $104.09 and a fifty-two week high of $173.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.34. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. Northern Trust's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.68 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTRS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $153.50 to $170.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $168.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research 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 issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $164.08.

Northern Trust Company 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.

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