Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS Shares Sold by Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd

Key Points

• Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd cut its Northern Trust stake by 56% in the fourth quarter, selling 46,568 shares and ending with 36,607 shares worth about $5 million.
• Northern Trust reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting $2.71 EPS on revenue of $2.21 billion, with revenue up 13.8% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, payable July 1, for an annualized yield of 2.0%.

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 56.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,607 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 46,568 shares during the quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Northern Trust were worth $5,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in Northern Trust by 1.0% during the 3rd 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 increased its position in Northern Trust by 6.0% during the 3rd 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 increased its position in Northern Trust by 2.1% during the 3rd 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 increased its position in Northern Trust by 4.8% during the 3rd 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 increased its position in Northern Trust by 3.5% during the 3rd 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.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 225 shares of Northern Trust 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 completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 8,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,355,409.45. This trade represents a 2.84% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Clive Bellows sold 2,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.02, for a total value of $462,056.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 28,217 shares in the company, valued at $4,656,369.34. This trade represents a 9.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,514 shares of company stock valued at $4,890,937. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Northern Trust from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $159.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $164.08.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Northern Trust stock opened at $162.97 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $30.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $149.71 and a 200-day moving average of $142.74. Northern Trust Corporation has a 52 week low of $104.09 and a 52 week high of $173.18.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.84%.The business's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. On average, 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 paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is 33.51%.

Northern Trust Company 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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