LPL Financial LLC Buys 21,884 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Northern Trust Corporation by 48.4%, holding 67,068 shares valued at approximately $6.62 million.
• Northern Trust recently reported quarterly earnings of $2.13 per share, beating estimates, but experienced a 26.4% decrease in year-over-year revenue.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.80 per share, reflecting a 2.6% yield.

LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 48.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 67,068 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 21,884 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Northern Trust were worth $6,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 93,881 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $9,261,000 after buying an additional 3,019 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 7,301 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,687 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 703 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 72.5% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 138,280 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,641,000 after buying an additional 58,109 shares during the period. Finally, Marietta Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 492.9% in the 1st quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,680 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,152,000 after buying an additional 9,710 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NTRS. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $123.00 target price on Northern Trust and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded Northern Trust from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Northern Trust from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays upped their price target on Northern Trust from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $128.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $117.08.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Northern Trust stock traded down $2.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $126.31. 330,722 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,604,834. The stock's fifty day moving average is $123.05 and its 200-day moving average is $109.16. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12 month low of $81.62 and a 12 month high of $133.00. The stock has a market cap of $24.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.82, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 11.75%. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.34 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 26.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. 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 is 35.25%.

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.