Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Northern Trust during the first quarter, buying 9,500 shares valued at about $1.33 million.
• Insider selling was notable: CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares and insider Clive Bellows sold 2,800 shares, bringing total insider sales over the last three months to 22,800 shares.
• Northern Trust beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting $2.71 EPS on $2.21 billion in revenue, while analysts currently have a Hold consensus and an average target price of $170.69.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 9,500 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,326,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $257,410,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $126,794,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,723,516 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $235,415,000 after purchasing an additional 703,985 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 114.1% during the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,031,579 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $140,903,000 after purchasing an additional 549,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth $67,126,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total transaction of $3,321,039.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,088,582.08. The trade was a 51.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Clive Bellows sold 2,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,656,369.34. This represents a 9.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 22,800 shares of company stock valued at $3,785,251. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on NTRS. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $175.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $170.69.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Northern Trust stock opened at $176.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. Northern Trust Corporation has a 52 week low of $118.99 and a 52 week high of $178.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $168.93 and a 200-day moving average of $153.24.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.84%.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 posted $1.90 earnings per share. Northern Trust's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.51%.

About Northern Trust

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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