Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Lowers Stock Holdings in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management reduced its Northern Trust stake by 14.9% in Q4, selling 19,537 shares and holding 111,463 shares worth about $15.23 million (≈0.06% of the company).
• Company insiders have been active: CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares for roughly $3.32 million (a 51.8% cut to his holding), and insiders sold 32,705 shares totaling about $5.21 million over the past 90 days.
• Northern Trust reported a Q1 beat with EPS of $2.71 vs. $2.37 expected and revenue of $2.21 billion (+13.8% year-over-year), and announced a $0.80 quarterly dividend (annualized $3.20, yield ~1.9%).

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its position in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 14.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 111,463 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 19,537 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.06% of Northern Trust worth $15,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 98.7% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 314 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in Northern Trust by 2,650.0% during the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 385 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were 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 directly owned 18,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,088,582.08. This trade represents a 51.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 245 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $151.85 per share, for a total transaction of $37,203.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 6,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,052,472.35. The trade was a 3.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 32,705 shares of company stock worth $5,211,464 over the last ninety days. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted 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. Zacks Research downgraded Northern Trust from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $163.55.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $164.48 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average is $147.24 and its 200 day moving average is $140.83. The company has a market capitalization of $30.48 billion, a PE ratio of 17.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.62. Northern Trust Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $95.88 and a fifty-two 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 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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