Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS Shares Sold by Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. reduced its holdings in Northern Trust Corporation by 21.5%, selling 38,550 shares during the first quarter, leaving them with 140,900 shares valued at approximately $13.9 million.
• Northern Trust recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.80, an increase from its previous dividend of $0.75, with an annualized yield of 2.5% and a payout ratio of 35.25%.
• The company's stock has a current price of $127.27, with a 12-month low of $81.62 and a high of $133.00, while recent earnings results showed a net margin of 11.75% despite a 26.4% year-over-year decline in revenue.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. cut its stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 21.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 140,900 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 38,550 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.07% of Northern Trust worth $13,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec lifted its position in Northern Trust by 44.0% during the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 12,423 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,226,000 after acquiring an additional 3,796 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Northern Trust by 87.6% during the 1st quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 72,973 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $7,199,000 after acquiring an additional 34,079 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management lifted its position in Northern Trust by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 4,005 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in Northern Trust by 2,487.7% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 6,107 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $602,000 after acquiring an additional 5,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mubadala Investment Co PJSC acquired a new position in Northern Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,788,000. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded Northern Trust from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $123.00 price objective on Northern Trust and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $119.58.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $127.27 on Friday. Northern Trust Corporation has a twelve month low of $81.62 and a twelve month high of $133.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $24.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.08.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.34 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 26.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research 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 will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This is a positive change from Northern Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is presently 35.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 256 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $126.34 per share, for a total transaction of $32,343.04. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 2,525 shares in the company, valued at $319,008.50. This represents a 11.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

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.

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