Legal & General Group Plc Invests $207.05 Million in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,191,062 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $207,054,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Northern Trust by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,112 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,984,000 after purchasing an additional 2,363 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 39.1% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 16,557 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 4,653 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 79.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the second quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Northern Trust by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 29,290 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,714,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Northern Trust from $176.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $189.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $179.50 to $185.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore set a $179.00 price target on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Monday, July 6th. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $180.68.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $187.66 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.33 billion, a PE ratio of 16.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.25. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12-month low of $121.12 and a 12-month high of $195.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $182.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.15.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The asset manager reported $4.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $1.52. The firm had revenue of $2.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This is a positive change from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.47%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.90, for a total transaction of $332,820.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 92,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,180,353.30. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 255 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $179.57 per share, with a total value of $45,790.35. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 8,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,388. This trade represents a 3.13% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.