Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS Shares Sold by Boston Trust Walden Corp

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden Corp reduced its stake in Northern Trust by 22.1%, selling 120,824 shares and now holds 427,112 shares (about 0.23% of the company) valued at roughly $58.34 million.
• Northern Trust beat Q1 expectations with EPS $2.71 vs $2.37 and revenue $2.21B (up ~14% YoY), backed by strong operating leverage and ~$359M of buybacks alongside a quarterly $0.80 dividend.
• Despite the beat, insiders sold 34,905 shares in the past 90 days (including the COO’s 25,000-share sale) and analysts warn of expense and valuation risks, while institutional investors own 83.19% of the stock.

Boston Trust Walden Corp lowered its stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 22.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 427,112 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 120,824 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned approximately 0.23% of Northern Trust worth $58,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,493,634 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,285,236,000 after purchasing an additional 97,584 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 6.0% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,378,196 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $320,092,000 after purchasing an additional 133,751 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 2.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,947,456 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $262,128,000 after purchasing an additional 40,048 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 4.8% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,924,707 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $259,066,000 after purchasing an additional 88,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 3.5% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,414,595 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $190,404,000 after purchasing an additional 48,417 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $171.74 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $144.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.23. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12 month low of $88.25 and a 12 month high of $173.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 14.87%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Northern Trust's payout ratio is presently 36.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $136.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Northern Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $168.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Northern Trust from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $154.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 25,000 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.62, for a total value of $3,740,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 26,259 shares in the company, valued at $3,928,871.58. This trade represents a 48.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Guy Gibson sold 3,009 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.39, for a total transaction of $428,451.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 29,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,176,583.48. This trade represents a 9.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,905 shares of company stock worth $5,166,714. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Northern Trust

Here are the key news stories impacting Northern Trust this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat: Northern Trust reported EPS of $2.71 (ahead of consensus) and revenue of ~$2.21B, with net income of $525.5M and year-over-year revenue growth ~14%. These beats are the primary catalyst for the rally. Business Wire — Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Operating leverage and margins: Management highlighted strong operating leverage (~700+ bps of positive operating leverage and a ~32% pre-tax FTE margin), which amplified earnings versus revenue growth. QuiverQuant — Operating Leverage
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns: The company returned a large amount of capital in the quarter (dividends plus ~$359M of buybacks), signaling confidence and directly supporting the share price. QuiverQuant — Capital Return
• Positive Sentiment: Business growth drivers: Fee income benefited from strong markets (AUC/AUM growth) and net interest income rose—both supported revenue and helped the beat. Reuters — Fee Income & AUM
• Neutral Sentiment: Management messaging and strategy: Company released a review of 2025 performance and strategic priorities at the annual meeting—helpful context but not an immediate earnings surprise. TipRanks — Strategic Priorities
• Negative Sentiment: Expenses and valuation concerns: Some coverage notes rising expenses and warns that the stock may already reflect a full valuation despite the strong quarter—this could limit upside if margins or growth slow. Seeking Alpha — Valuation Caution
• Negative Sentiment: Insider & institutional flows: Recent insider sales and large institutional position reductions (highlighted in coverage) are potential soft signals for longer‑term ownership trends. QuiverQuant — Insider & Institutional Activity

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation NASDAQ: NTRS is a global financial services firm headquartered in Chicago that provides asset servicing, asset management and wealth management solutions to institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals. The company's core businesses include custody and fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, trust and fiduciary services, private banking, and retirement and defined contribution plan services.

Northern Trust's product and service offerings span custody and fund accounting, portfolio and performance analytics, securities lending, cash management and foreign exchange, as well as discretionary and non-discretionary investment management.

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