4,650 Shares in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) Purchased by Wakefield Asset Management LLLP

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,650 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $459,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. City National Bank of Florida MSD boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 25.3% in the first quarter. City National Bank of Florida MSD now owns 3,856 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares in the last quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP bought a new stake in Northern Trust in the first quarter worth $906,000. Oak Thistle LLC boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 379.1% in the first quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 10,397 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,026,000 after purchasing an additional 8,227 shares in the last quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. bought a new stake in Northern Trust in the first quarter worth $424,000. Finally, Horizon Investment Services LLC lifted its position in Northern Trust by 260.5% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 35,101 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,463,000 after acquiring an additional 25,363 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on NTRS. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $123.00 target price on shares of Northern Trust and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays upped 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. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Northern Trust from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $116.58.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Teresa Parker sold 6,467 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.62, for a total transaction of $650,709.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 79,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,988,322.42. The trade was a 7.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.95, for a total transaction of $329,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 28,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,872,163.20. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,772 shares of company stock worth $981,069 over the last 90 days. 0.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Trading Up 3.6%

NTRS traded up $4.53 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $128.76. The stock had a trading volume of 2,289,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,858,085. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $116.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.26. Northern Trust Corporation has a 1-year low of $80.81 and a 1-year high of $133.00.

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

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Northern Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Northern Trust's payout ratio is currently 27.99%.

Northern Trust Profile

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.