Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS Shares Sold by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors Inc. cut its Northern Trust position by 36.8% in the first quarter, selling 39,456 shares and leaving it with 67,779 shares valued at about $9.46 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mixed but slightly positive: analysts now have a consensus “Hold” rating on NTRS, with an average price target of $178.75 after several firms raised their targets.
• Northern Trust reported strong quarterly results, including EPS of $2.71 versus estimates of $2.37 and revenue of $2.21 billion, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share.

Heartland Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 36.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,779 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 39,456 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $9,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in Northern Trust in the third quarter worth $25,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NTRS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $159.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays upped their target price on Northern Trust from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Northern Trust from $175.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Northern Trust from $176.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $178.75.

Northern Trust Stock Down 2.0%

NTRS stock opened at $184.68 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Northern Trust Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $118.99 and a fifty-two week high of $191.60. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $172.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.37. The stock has a market cap of $34.17 billion, a PE ratio of 19.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.25.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.34. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. Northern Trust's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Northern Trust's payout ratio is 33.51%.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 225 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $166.41 per share, for a total transaction of $37,442.25. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,145 shares in the company, valued at $1,355,409.45. The trade was a 2.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Clive Bellows sold 2,800 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.02, for a total value of $462,056.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 28,217 shares in the company, valued at $4,656,369.34. The trade was a 9.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 22,800 shares of company stock worth $3,785,251. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust Profile

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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