Insider Selling: Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) CFO Sells $3,321,039.92 in Stock

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) CFO David Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total transaction of $3,321,039.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,088,582.08. This trade represents a 51.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Northern Trust stock opened at $164.48 on Friday. Northern Trust Corporation has a 1 year low of $95.88 and a 1 year high of $173.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $147.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.83. The company has a market cap of $30.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.62.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its earnings results 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. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. Northern Trust’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $159.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.55.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 1.3% during the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $669,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 2.0% during the first quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 4.9% during the third 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 raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 13.1% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 682 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 16.5% in the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.