Blueshift Asset Management LLC Makes New $546,000 Investment in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Key Points

• Blueshift Asset Management LLC has acquired a new stake in Northern Trust Corporation, purchasing 5,531 shares valued at around $546,000 during the first quarter.
• Northern Trust recently announced an increased quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, up from $0.75, reflecting a dividend yield of 2.5%.
• Insider trading data shows a 7.53% decrease in ownership for insider Teresa Parker after selling 6,467 shares at an average price of $100.62.

Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,531 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $546,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 47.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,810,816 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $178,637,000 after buying an additional 585,992 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,497,484 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $153,493,000 after buying an additional 562,976 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 451.9% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 555,631 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $56,866,000 after buying an additional 454,956 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,197,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 10,340.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 445,602 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $43,959,000 after buying an additional 441,334 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NTRS. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $89.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $123.00 price target on shares of Northern Trust and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northern Trust from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $116.58.

Northern Trust Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS traded down $2.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $127.06. The company had a trading volume of 1,409,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,640,713. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $119.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.05. The company has a market capitalization of $24.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Northern Trust Corporation has a one year low of $80.81 and a one year high of $133.00.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 11.75% and a return on equity of 14.06%. Northern Trust's revenue for the quarter was down 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.34 EPS. As a group, research 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 paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a boost from Northern Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, insider Teresa Parker sold 6,467 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.62, for a total transaction of $650,709.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 79,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,988,322.42. The trade was a 7.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.95, for a total transaction of $329,835.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 28,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,872,163.20. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,772 shares of company stock valued at $981,069 in the last 90 days. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Company Profile

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.