North Dakota State Investment Board Purchases Shares of 6,518 Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Key Points

• North Dakota State Investment Board opened a new position in Northern Trust, buying 6,518 shares worth about $890,000 in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with several other large investors increasing stakes; the article says 83.19% of Northern Trust stock is owned by institutions.
• Northern Trust reported better-than-expected quarterly results and also announced a $0.80 quarterly dividend payable July 1, implying a 1.9% annualized yield.

North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 6,518 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $890,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 122.6% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 48,284 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $6,595,000 after acquiring an additional 26,594 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,947,456 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $262,128,000 after acquiring an additional 40,048 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $2,253,000. Cinctive Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 113.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP now owns 28,939 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,895,000 after acquiring an additional 15,398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 62.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,042,084 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $140,265,000 after acquiring an additional 400,247 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NTRS shares. BMO Capital Markets raised Northern Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $168.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Northern Trust from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Northern Trust from $153.50 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Northern Trust from $159.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Northern Trust from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $164.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northern Trust news, insider Clive Bellows sold 2,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $4,656,369.34. This trade represents a 9.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 18,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,088,582.08. This trade represents a 51.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 30,514 shares of company stock valued at $4,890,937 in the last three months. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NTRS opened at $165.96 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $30.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.27. Northern Trust Corporation has a 1 year low of $104.09 and a 1 year high of $173.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $152.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.08.

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

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.