Cinctive Capital Management LP Purchases 18,503 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Key Points

• Cinctive Capital Management increased its Northern Trust stake by 63.9% in the fourth quarter, buying 18,503 shares and bringing its total holding to 47,442 shares worth about $6.48 million.
• Other institutional investors also boosted or initiated positions, and overall 83.19% of Northern Trust stock is owned by institutions, signaling strong professional investor interest.
• Northern Trust reported better-than-expected quarterly results with EPS of $2.71 versus $2.37 expected and revenue of $2.21 billion, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share.

Cinctive Capital Management LP grew its position in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 63.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 47,442 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 18,503 shares during the period. Cinctive Capital Management LP's holdings in Northern Trust were worth $6,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NTRS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $257,410,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $126,794,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,723,516 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $235,415,000 after buying an additional 703,985 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 114.1% in the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,031,579 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $140,903,000 after buying an additional 549,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $67,126,000. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Monday, February 23rd. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $168.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $159.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $164.08.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $174.95 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market cap of $32.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $164.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $149.93. Northern Trust Corporation has a 1-year low of $109.39 and a 1-year high of $176.93.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.68 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Northern Trust's payout ratio is 33.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Clive Bellows sold 2,800 shares of Northern Trust 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 transaction, 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 225 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $166.41 per share, with a total value of $37,442.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 8,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,355,409.45. This represents a 2.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 22,800 shares of company stock valued at $3,785,251 in the last three months. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northern Trust 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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