Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS Shares Sold by Aberdeen Group plc

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc reduced its holdings in Northern Trust Corporation by 54.4%, owning approximately 0.08% of the company after selling 194,907 shares in the first quarter.
• Northern Trust recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.80 per share, up from $0.75, reflecting a 2.5% dividend yield.
• Despite a recent earnings report beating estimates, Northern Trust's revenue decreased by 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year, prompting mixed analyst ratings.

Aberdeen Group plc lowered its holdings in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 54.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,263 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 194,907 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.08% of Northern Trust worth $15,829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of 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 worth $178,637,000 after acquiring an additional 585,992 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position 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 worth $774,411,000 after acquiring an additional 363,472 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of 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 worth $8,383,000 after acquiring an additional 6,570 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 529.4% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 461,383 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $45,515,000 after acquiring an additional 388,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 96.7% in the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 5,239 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $517,000 after acquiring an additional 2,575 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $127.05 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $24.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.28. The company's fifty day moving average price is $123.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.31.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.34 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.80 dividend. 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. This is an increase from Northern Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Northern Trust's payout ratio is 35.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Northern Trust news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 256 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $126.34 per share, for a total transaction of $32,343.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,525 shares in the company, valued at $319,008.50. This represents a 11.28% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NTRS shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Northern Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $118.00 target price (down from $120.00) on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northern Trust from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $89.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $117.08.

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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