Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $10.65 Million Holdings in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its holdings in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 24.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 107,994 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 34,075 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.06% of Northern Trust worth $10,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,486,616 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $767,378,000 after purchasing an additional 92,162 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,904,871 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $501,444,000 after purchasing an additional 30,908 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,885,312 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $295,744,000 after purchasing an additional 202,327 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,532,401 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $259,571,000 after purchasing an additional 39,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,201,309 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $225,641,000 after purchasing an additional 62,605 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northern Trust Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NTRS traded up $1.44 on Friday, hitting $124.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,358,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,409,589. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Northern Trust Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $80.81 and a fifty-two week high of $124.52. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $105.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.70.

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

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on NTRS shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup decreased their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Northern Trust from $118.00 to $111.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and set a $103.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 now directly owns 28,736 shares in the company, valued at $2,872,163.20. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Teresa Parker sold 6,467 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.62, for a total transaction of $650,709.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 79,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,988,322.42. The trade was 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 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust 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.