Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) Position Cut by Meeder Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Meeder Asset Management Inc. has cut its stake in Northern Trust Corporation by 86.3%, selling 110,794 shares and now holding 17,602 shares valued at approximately $1.74 million.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, reflecting an increase from the previous $0.75 per share, contributing to an annualized yield of 2.47%.
• Northern Trust reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.13 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, despite a 26.4% drop in revenue compared to the same period last year.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 86.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,602 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 110,794 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $1,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 2.6% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 31,774 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,135,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares during the period. First National Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 1st quarter worth $280,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 48.4% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 67,068 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $6,616,000 after purchasing an additional 21,884 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 3.3% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 93,881 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,261,000 after purchasing an additional 3,019 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in Northern Trust by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 7,301 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $720,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust Stock Down 2.2%

NTRS stock traded down $2.87 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $127.13. 687,080 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,633,008. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $119.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.86. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12-month low of $80.81 and a 12-month high of $133.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.34 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 26.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This is an increase from Northern Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.60%.

Insider Activity

In other Northern Trust news, insider Teresa Parker sold 6,467 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.62, for a total value of $650,709.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 79,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,988,322.42. The trade was a 7.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 28,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 three months, insiders sold 9,772 shares of company stock valued at $981,069. 0.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NTRS. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $123.00 price objective on Northern Trust and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $89.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $108.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Northern Trust from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $116.58.

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.