Citigroup Inc. Acquires 48,420 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 32.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 198,910 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 48,420 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.10% of Northern Trust worth $19,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 4.9% in 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 buying an additional 363,472 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Northern Trust by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,201,309 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $225,641,000 after purchasing an additional 62,605 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in 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 worth $178,637,000 after purchasing an additional 585,992 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Northern Trust by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,727,365 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $177,055,000 after purchasing an additional 150,274 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Northern Trust by 60.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,497,484 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $153,493,000 after purchasing an additional 562,976 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on NTRS. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $123.00 target price on Northern Trust and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $118.00 target price (down previously from $120.00) on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Northern Trust from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Northern Trust from $128.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $117.08.

Northern Trust Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NTRS stock traded down $2.47 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $126.02. The company had a trading volume of 787,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,404,009. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12 month low of $81.62 and a 12 month 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.23. The company has a market cap of $24.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.28.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 11.75%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.34 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 26.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This is a boost from Northern Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is 37.60%.

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.