National Pension Service Sells 6,209 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Key Points

• National Pension Service trimmed its Northern Trust stake by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 6,209 shares and ending with 354,318 shares valued at about $48.4 million.
• Recent analyst action has been mostly cautious: several firms lifted price targets, but the stock’s overall consensus remains “Hold” with an average target of $164.08, slightly below the current share price.
• Northern Trust posted better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.71 versus $2.37 expected and revenue of $2.21 billion, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share.

National Pension Service decreased its position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 354,318 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 6,209 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.19% of Northern Trust worth $48,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,112 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,984,000 after acquiring an additional 2,363 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 39.1% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 16,557 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 4,653 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 79.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Northern Trust in the second quarter worth approximately $267,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 29,290 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,714,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRS has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $155.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $153.50 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Northern Trust from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $164.08.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS stock opened at $165.45 on Monday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $156.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.01. The company has a market cap of $30.62 billion, a PE ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12-month low of $104.99 and a 12-month high of $173.18.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.84%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Clive Bellows sold 2,800 shares of the company'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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 225 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $166.41 per share, for a total transaction of $37,442.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,355,409.45. The trade was a 2.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,064 shares of company stock valued at $4,682,064. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust 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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