State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 6,467 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D has reduced its holdings in Northern Trust Corporation by 9.4%, now owning 62,623 shares worth approximately $6.18 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Bank of New York Mellon and Allianz Asset Management, have significantly increased their stakes in Northern Trust, indicating growing confidence in the asset manager.
• Northern Trust recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.80 per share, marking a rise from the previous dividend and reflecting a 35.25% payout ratio.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 9.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,623 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 6,467 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Northern Trust were worth $6,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 47.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,810,816 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $178,637,000 after buying an additional 585,992 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,850,088 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $774,411,000 after purchasing an additional 363,472 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 84,974 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $8,383,000 after purchasing an additional 6,570 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 529.4% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 461,383 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $45,515,000 after purchasing an additional 388,081 shares during the period. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Northern Trust by 96.7% during the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 5,239 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 2,575 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 256 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $126.34 per share, for a total transaction of $32,343.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,525 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $319,008.50. This trade represents a 11.28% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NTRS stock opened at $127.05 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $123.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.31. Northern Trust Corporation has a 52 week low of $81.62 and a 52 week high of $133.00. The stock has a market cap of $24.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.93, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 11.75%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.34 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 26.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from Northern Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Northern Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $123.00 target price on shares of Northern Trust and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $89.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $117.08.

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation, a financial holding company, provides wealth management, asset servicing, asset management, and banking solutions for corporations, institutions, families, and individuals worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Servicing and Wealth Management. The Asset Servicing segment offers asset servicing and related services, including custody, fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, investment management, investment risk and analytical services, employee benefit services, securities lending, foreign exchange, treasury management, brokerage services, transition management services, banking, and cash management services.

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