VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Raises Position in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Key Points

• VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its stake in Northern Trust by 17.7% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 256,700 shares worth about $35.1 million.
• Northern Trust reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $2.71 per share beating estimates and revenue rising 13.8% year over year to $2.21 billion.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a target price of $164.08.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its position in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 17.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 256,700 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 38,600 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned approximately 0.14% of Northern Trust worth $35,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $67,126,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,863,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 67.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,019,531 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $136,750,000 after buying an additional 409,434 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 62.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,042,084 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $140,265,000 after buying an additional 400,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Northern Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,698,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $162.35 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.47. Northern Trust Corporation has a one year low of $104.09 and a one year high of $173.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.27.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 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 business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.63 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Northern Trust's payout ratio is 33.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total transaction of $3,321,039.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,588 shares in the company, valued at $3,088,582.08. The trade was a 51.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Guy Gibson sold 3,009 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.39, for a total transaction of $428,451.51. Following the transaction, the insider owned 29,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,176,583.48. This trade represents a 9.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,705 shares of company stock valued at $5,211,464. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NTRS. Citigroup initiated coverage on Northern Trust in a report on Monday, February 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Evercore boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $155.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $164.08.

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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