Horizon Investments LLC Sells 6,106 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Key Points

• Horizon Investments LLC reduced its Northern Trust stake by 9.7%, selling 6,106 shares and retaining 56,697 shares valued at $7.744 million.
• Northern Trust beat Q1 estimates with $2.71 EPS (vs. $2.37 expected) and $2.21B revenue (up 13.8% YoY), and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.80 ($3.20 annualized, 1.9% yield; ex-dividend June 5).
• Institutional ownership is high at 83.19% with large buys from funds like AQR, Barclays and Jupiter, but insiders sold 32,705 shares last quarter and analysts' consensus rating is a "Hold" with a $163.55 target.

Horizon Investments LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,697 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 6,106 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investments LLC's holdings in Northern Trust were worth $7,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,863,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Northern Trust by 67.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,019,531 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $136,750,000 after acquiring an additional 409,434 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 62.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,042,084 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $140,265,000 after purchasing an additional 400,247 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Northern Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,698,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Northern Trust by 35.3% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 833,167 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $112,144,000 after purchasing an additional 217,305 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $164.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $147.24 and a 200-day moving average of $140.93. Northern Trust Corporation has a 52-week low of $95.88 and a 52-week high of $173.18. The stock has a market cap of $30.48 billion, a PE ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.27.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.34. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. Northern Trust's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.63 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northern Trust news, insider Clive Bellows sold 2,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.02, for a total transaction of $462,056.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 28,217 shares in the company, valued at $4,656,369.34. This trade represents a 9.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 245 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $151.85 per share, with a total value of $37,203.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,052,472.35. This represents a 3.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 32,705 shares of company stock valued at $5,211,464 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Northern Trust from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. 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 report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $155.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $163.55.

Northern Trust Company 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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