New York State Teachers Retirement System Decreases Holdings in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 188,001 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 5,819 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.10% of Northern Trust worth $18,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NTRS. Norges Bank bought a new position in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $83,550,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,497,484 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $153,493,000 after buying an additional 562,976 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 451.9% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 555,631 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $56,866,000 after buying an additional 454,956 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth $46,197,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 10,340.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 445,602 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $43,959,000 after acquiring an additional 441,334 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of the 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 owned 28,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,872,163.20. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Teresa Parker sold 6,467 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.62, for a total transaction of $650,709.54. Following the sale, the insider owned 79,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,988,322.42. This trade represents 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 valued at $981,069 in the last three months. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on NTRS shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $89.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $118.00 to $111.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $114.67.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NASDAQ:NTRS traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $131.71. The stock had a trading volume of 1,442,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,431,142. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Northern Trust Corporation has a one year low of $80.81 and a one year high of $133.00.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for 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%. Research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.99%.

About Northern Trust

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.