Edgestream Partners L.P. Buys New Stake in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 66,565 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $6,567,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 1st quarter worth about $413,000. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 1st quarter worth about $227,000. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 96.7% in the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 5,239 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 2,575 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 90.5% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,729 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 2,246 shares during the period. Finally, Callahan Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 19,492 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,923,000 after buying an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NTRS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $103.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $89.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $114.50.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS traded down $2.97 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $123.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,047,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,448,503. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $113.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.61. Northern Trust Corporation has a one year low of $80.81 and a one year high of $133.00. The company has a market cap of $24.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.26.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a net margin of 13.93% and a return on equity of 13.73%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.99%.

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.