Nicholas Company Inc. Sells 11,660 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Key Points

• Nicholas Company Inc. cut its Northern Trust position by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 11,660 shares and leaving it with 78,776 shares worth about $10.76 million.
• Insider trading was mixed: CFO David W. Fox Jr. sold 19,987 shares, while director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 225 shares; insiders sold a net 32,705 shares over the last three months.
• Northern Trust reported solid results and maintained a dividend, posting Q1 EPS of $2.71 versus estimates of $2.37 and revenue of $2.21 billion, while declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share.

Nicholas Company Inc. lessened its stake in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 78,776 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 11,660 shares during the period. Nicholas Company Inc.'s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $10,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 4.9% in the third quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,659 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 5.1% in the third quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 1,666 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,379 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $598,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 2.2% in the third quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,812 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 2.3% in the third quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,717 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total value of $3,321,039.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,088,582.08. This trade represents a 51.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 225 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $166.41 per share, for a total transaction of $37,442.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director 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 position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 32,705 shares of company stock valued at $5,211,464 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on NTRS. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $159.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Northern Trust from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $163.55.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NTRS opened at $160.41 on Monday. Northern Trust Corporation has a one year low of $100.01 and a one year high of $173.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $148.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.27.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.34. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. Northern Trust's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.51%.

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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