Insider Buying: Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Director Acquires $148,910.00 in Stock

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) Director Richard Petrino acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $148.91 per share, with a total value of $148,910.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,168.12. The trade was a 42.88% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Northern Trust Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $152.15 on Friday. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12-month low of $81.62 and a 12-month high of $157.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $142.32 and its 200-day moving average is $133.55.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.87% and a net margin of 12.15%.The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.26 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is currently 36.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 4.9% in the third quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,659 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 13.1% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 682 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 0.3% during the second quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 29,132 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,694,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. raised its stake in Northern Trust by 5.1% in the third quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 1,666 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Northern Trust by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,379 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $598,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on NTRS. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $139.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Evercore lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.75.

About Northern Trust

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.