Independent Financial Group LLC Buys Shares of 2,908 Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,908 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $406,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its position in Northern Trust by 9.8% in the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 18,678 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,671 shares in the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Northern Trust by 2.9% in the first quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,847 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,189,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Northern Trust by 4.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,036,137 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $284,184,000 after purchasing an additional 83,117 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Northern Trust by 27.3% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 175,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,556,000 after purchasing an additional 37,758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harmony Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 14.2% during the first quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 1,848 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 225 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $166.41 per share, for a total transaction of $37,442.25. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,145 shares in the company, valued at $1,355,409.45. The trade was a 2.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total value of $3,321,039.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,588 shares in the company, valued at $3,088,582.08. This trade represents a 51.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $180.52 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12-month low of $121.12 and a 12-month high of $191.60. The firm has a market cap of $33.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.25.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 14.76%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.49 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets raised Northern Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Northern Trust from $157.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group set a $186.00 price target on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Friday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.25.

Northern Trust 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.