Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Key Points

• Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Northern Trust Corporation by 14.2%, owning 40,767 shares valued at approximately $4 million.
• Northern Trust plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.80 on October 1st, an increase from its previous $0.75 dividend, resulting in an annualized dividend of $3.20.
• The company's recent earnings report indicated earnings per share of $2.13, exceeding estimates, but revenue was down 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 14.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,767 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 5,083 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $4,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 47.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,810,816 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $178,637,000 after acquiring an additional 585,992 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 4.9% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,850,088 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $774,411,000 after acquiring an additional 363,472 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 8.4% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 84,974 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $8,383,000 after acquiring an additional 6,570 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 529.4% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 461,383 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $45,515,000 after acquiring an additional 388,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 96.7% during the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 5,239 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $517,000 after acquiring an additional 2,575 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.95, for a total transaction of $329,835.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,736 shares in the company, valued at $2,872,163.20. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Teresa Parker sold 6,467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.62, for a total value of $650,709.54. Following the transaction, the insider owned 79,391 shares in the company, valued at $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 a total of 9,772 shares of company stock worth $981,069 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $118.00 price target (down previously from $120.00) on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $116.58.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS traded down $2.94 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $127.06. 1,409,350 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,570,245. The firm has a market cap of $24.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.93, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.28. Northern Trust Corporation has a twelve month low of $80.81 and a twelve month high of $133.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

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

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Northern Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is 35.25%.

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.