Vest Financial LLC Boosts Holdings in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 18.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 136,841 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,768 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $17,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Northern Trust by 47.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,810,816 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $178,637,000 after acquiring an additional 585,992 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Northern Trust by 19.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,443,599 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $339,711,000 after acquiring an additional 558,287 shares during the last quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Northern Trust during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,905,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Northern Trust during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,834,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Northern Trust by 529.4% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 461,383 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $45,515,000 after purchasing an additional 388,081 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NTRS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “underperform” rating and set a $118.00 price target (down previously from $120.00) on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $123.00 price target on shares of Northern Trust and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.23.

Northern Trust Stock Up 1.9%

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $127.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.93, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.31. Northern Trust Corporation has a 1-year low of $81.62 and a 1-year high of $135.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $129.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 11.75% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a boost from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 256 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $126.34 per share, for a total transaction of $32,343.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,525 shares in the company, valued at $319,008.50. This represents a 11.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Company Profile

Northern Trust Corporation, a financial holding company, provides wealth management, asset servicing, asset management, and banking solutions for corporations, institutions, families, and individuals worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Servicing and Wealth Management. The Asset Servicing segment offers asset servicing and related services, including custody, fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, investment management, investment risk and analytical services, employee benefit services, securities lending, foreign exchange, treasury management, brokerage services, transition management services, banking, and cash management services.