Capital Fund Management S.A. Buys 88,402 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Key Points

• Capital Fund Management S.A. increased its stake in Northern Trust Corporation by 168.8%, bringing its total shares owned to 140,764 after purchasing an additional 88,402 shares.
• Several other institutional investors, including Bank of New York Mellon Corp and Allianz Asset Management GmbH, also raised their stakes in Northern Trust, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Northern Trust announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.75 to $0.80, representing an annualized yield of 2.5%.

Capital Fund Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 168.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 140,764 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 88,402 shares during the quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. owned approximately 0.07% of Northern Trust worth $13,886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NTRS. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 47.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,810,816 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $178,637,000 after purchasing an additional 585,992 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 562,976 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Northern Trust by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,443,599 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $339,711,000 after acquiring an additional 558,287 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,197,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 441,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS traded up $2.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $130.06. 1,014,855 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,065,403. Northern Trust Corporation has a 1-year low of $81.62 and a 1-year high of $133.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $125.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $24.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is an increase from Northern Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.25%.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $126.34 per share, for a total transaction of $32,343.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 2,525 shares in the company, valued at $319,008.50. This trade represents a 11.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRS has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $123.00 price objective on shares of Northern Trust and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $128.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northern Trust from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $117.08.

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.