Wealthfront Advisers LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 43.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,904 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 6,890 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $3,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Northern Trust during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 5,225.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 213 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 87.4% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 208 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new position in Northern Trust in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the 2nd quarter worth $48,000. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northern Trust Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NTRS opened at $146.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s fifty day moving average is $143.94 and its 200 day moving average is $134.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.69. Northern Trust Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $81.62 and a fifty-two week high of $157.60.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 14.87%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.26 EPS. Northern Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard Petrino bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $148.91 per share, for a total transaction of $148,910.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 3,332 shares in the company, valued at $496,168.12. This trade represents a 42.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.62, for a total value of $3,740,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 26,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,928,871.58. This represents a 48.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 27,957 shares of company stock valued at $4,156,280 in the last quarter. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on NTRS. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Northern Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Evercore upped their price target on Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.