First National Advisers LLC Makes New Investment in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Key Points

• First National Advisers LLC has invested approximately $280,000 in Northern Trust Corporation by purchasing 2,843 shares of its stock during the first quarter.
• Northern Trust announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.75 to $0.80 per share, resulting in a dividend yield of 2.46%.
• Analysts have set varied target prices for Northern Trust's stock, with Barclays raising its target from $128 to $136, indicating an overall positive outlook despite some sell ratings from other firms.

First National Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,843 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 83.5% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 45,184 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,631,000 after buying an additional 20,564 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 325,630 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $33,631,000 after acquiring an additional 32,629 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 22,413 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,297,000 after acquiring an additional 4,240 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 23,707 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 10,863 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $123.00 price target on shares of Northern Trust and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $116.58.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Teresa Parker sold 6,467 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.62, for a total transaction of $650,709.54. Following the sale, the insider directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,872,163.20. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,772 shares of company stock worth $981,069. 0.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS traded down $0.82 on Thursday, hitting $130.74. 305,345 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,632,622. The company's 50 day moving average price is $118.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.65. Northern Trust Corporation has a one year low of $80.81 and a one year high of $133.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.26.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.13 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.34 EPS. The business's revenue was down 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Northern Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.25%.

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.