State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. Sells 264,817 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. lowered its stake in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 6.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,145,102 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 264,817 shares during the quarter. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. owned approximately 2.19% of Northern Trust worth $557,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in Northern Trust by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,659 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew 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 worth $90,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 5.1% during 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. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,717 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,071 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In related news, Director Richard Petrino bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $148.91 per share, for a total transaction of $148,910.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,168.12. The trade was a 42.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.62, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,641 shares of company stock valued at $4,269,900. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $139.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $148.75.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NTRS stock opened at $145.23 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $26.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.65. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12-month low of $81.62 and a 12-month high of $157.60.

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. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.87% and a net margin of 12.15%.The business’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is presently 36.61%.

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.