Candriam S.C.A. Purchases 74,196 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. increased its Northern Trust stake by 126.3% in the first quarter, buying 74,196 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 132,919 shares worth about $18.6 million.
• Northern Trust reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $2.71 per share and revenue of $2.21 billion, both above analyst expectations. Revenue rose 13.8% year over year.
• Analysts remain mixed on the stock: the consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $178.75, while Northern Trust recently traded at $183.55 and also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share.

Candriam S.C.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 126.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 132,919 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 74,196 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. owned about 0.07% of Northern Trust worth $18,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Northern Trust by 2.3% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,188 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,957,000 after buying an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 24,493 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,419,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,617 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,063,000 after buying an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 1.6% during the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 60,132 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $8,355,000 after acquiring an additional 947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the first quarter worth $792,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $159.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $175.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Northern Trust from $170.00 to $179.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $178.75.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS traded up $0.69 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $183.55. The company had a trading volume of 805,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 916,431. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12-month low of $118.99 and a 12-month high of $185.57. The company has a fifty day moving average of $170.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.74. The company has a market cap of $33.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.25. 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 released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.84%.Northern Trust's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Clive Bellows sold 2,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 28,217 shares in the company, valued at $4,656,369.34. This trade represents a 9.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 225 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $166.41 per share, for a total transaction of $37,442.25. Following the purchase, the director owned 8,145 shares in the company, valued at $1,355,409.45. This represents a 2.84% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,800 shares of company stock worth $3,785,251. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

About Northern Trust

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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