Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS Shares Sold by Rathbones Group PLC

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC cut its Northern Trust stake by 22.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 10,182 shares and leaving it with 34,868 shares valued at about $4.76 million.
• Insiders showed mixed activity: Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 225 shares, while CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares; over the last quarter, insiders sold a net 30,514 shares.
• Northern Trust beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $2.71 versus $2.37 expected and revenue of $2.21 billion, while analysts’ consensus rating remains “Hold” with an average target price of $164.08.

Rathbones Group PLC lessened its stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 22.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,868 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 10,182 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC's holdings in Northern Trust were worth $4,763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,112 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,984,000 after buying an additional 2,363 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 16,557 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,633,000 after buying an additional 4,653 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 79.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 596 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Northern Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $267,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 29,290 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,714,000 after buying an additional 1,275 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 225 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $166.41 per share, for a total transaction of $37,442.25. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,355,409.45. This trade represents a 2.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total value of $3,321,039.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,588 shares in the company, valued at $3,088,582.08. This represents a 51.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 30,514 shares of company stock worth $4,890,937 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on NTRS. Barclays boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $153.50 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research upgraded Northern Trust from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Evercore upped their target price on Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Northern Trust from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $164.08.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $167.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.27. Northern Trust Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $104.09 and a fifty-two week high of $173.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The business's 50-day moving average is $152.62 and its 200-day moving average is $144.35.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.84%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.68 EPS for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.51%.

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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