Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 138,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 23,962 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $18,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,493,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,285,236,000 after buying an additional 97,584 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,894,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $395,395,000 after buying an additional 161,826 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 6.0% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,378,196 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $320,092,000 after buying an additional 133,751 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,953,020 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $266,763,000 after buying an additional 5,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 4.8% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,924,707 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $259,066,000 after purchasing an additional 88,699 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Northern Trust from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial increased their price target on Northern Trust from $155.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Northern Trust from $159.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised Northern Trust from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Northern Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.08.

Northern Trust Trading Down 2.6%

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $166.13 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $30.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50 day moving average is $161.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $148.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Northern Trust Corporation has a 52 week low of $107.08 and a 52 week high of $173.66.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.84%.The business’s revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.68 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.51%.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other news, insider Clive Bellows sold 2,800 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.02, for a total value of $462,056.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 28,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,656,369.34. This trade represents a 9.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $166.41 per share, with a total value of $37,442.25. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,355,409.45. This represents a 2.84% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 22,800 shares of company stock worth $3,785,251. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northern Trust Company 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.