NFJ Investment Group LLC Has $6 Million Stock Holdings in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Key Points

• NFJ Investment Group LLC has reduced its stake in Northern Trust Corporation by 9.4%, now holding 60,799 shares valued at approximately $5.998 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their holdings in Northern Trust, with Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosting its stake by 47.8% during the first quarter.
• Northern Trust recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.75 to $0.80 per share, representing a 2.5% dividend yield.

NFJ Investment Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 9.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,799 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 6,337 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC's holdings in Northern Trust were worth $5,998,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,183 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 896 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 54,765 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,613,000 after acquiring an additional 8,428 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 13,487 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,382,000 after buying an additional 1,941 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,358,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $625,000. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 256 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $126.34 per share, for a total transaction of $32,343.04. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $319,008.50. This represents a 11.28% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTRS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $89.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $123.00 price target on shares of Northern Trust and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Northern Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $128.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $119.58.

Northern Trust Stock Up 1.4%

NTRS traded up $1.81 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $128.87. 349,572 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,534,189. Northern Trust Corporation has a one year low of $81.62 and a one year high of $133.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $128.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.37. The company has a market cap of $24.64 billion, a PE ratio of 15.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a positive change from Northern Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.60%.

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.