Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Shares Purchased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 598.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,506 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,567 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $2,713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,486,616 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $767,378,000 after acquiring an additional 92,162 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,904,871 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $501,444,000 after purchasing an additional 30,908 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,885,312 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $295,744,000 after purchasing an additional 202,327 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,532,401 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $259,571,000 after buying an additional 39,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,201,309 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $225,641,000 after buying an additional 62,605 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Trading Up 2.9%

NTRS stock opened at $110.91 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $100.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.13. Northern Trust Co. has a fifty-two week low of $80.45 and a fifty-two week high of $114.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. Analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective (up previously from $101.00) on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Bank of America lowered their target price on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.95, for a total value of $329,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,736 shares in the company, valued at $2,872,163.20. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Teresa Parker sold 6,467 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.62, for a total value of $650,709.54. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 79,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,988,322.42. This trade represents a 7.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,772 shares of company stock valued at $981,069. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Northern Trust

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.