Pacer Advisors Inc. Lowers Stake in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 24.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,930 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 3,925 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $1,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 47.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 363,472 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 8.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 529.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 96.7% in 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 during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.95, for a total transaction of $329,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 28,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,872,163.20. This 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 firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.62, for a total transaction of $650,709.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 79,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,988,322.42. This represents a 7.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,772 shares of company stock valued at $981,069 in the last ninety days. 0.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS traded down $2.94 during trading on Friday, reaching $127.06. The company had a trading volume of 1,409,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,570,245. The company has a fifty day moving average of $119.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.28. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12 month low of $80.81 and a 12 month high of $133.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a net margin of 11.75% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.34 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current 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 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. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NTRS. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $89.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Northern Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $116.58.

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.