Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS Shares Acquired by Stiles Financial Services Inc

Key Points

• Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in Northern Trust Corporation by 16.5% during the 2nd quarter, now owning 20,084 shares worth approximately $2.5 million.
• Northern Trust's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $2.13, surpassing estimates, despite a 26.4% decline in revenue from the same quarter last year.
• The company announced a dividend increase to $0.80 per share, reflecting a yield of 2.5%, with a payout ratio of 37.60%.

Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 16.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,084 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 2,849 shares during the quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc's holdings in Northern Trust were worth $2,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 363,472 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 19.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,443,599 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $339,711,000 after buying an additional 558,287 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 0.7% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,013,123 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $297,245,000 after buying an additional 20,010 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 585,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 6.6% during the second quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,184,610 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $150,197,000 after buying an additional 72,867 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $129.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.31. Northern Trust Corporation has a one year low of $81.62 and a one year high of $135.48. 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 company's fifty day moving average price is $129.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.46.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.34 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Northern Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NTRS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "underperform" rating and set a $118.00 target price (down from $120.00) on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $120.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $142.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $128.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 256 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $126.34 per share, for a total transaction of $32,343.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $319,008.50. This represents a 11.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust 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.

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