Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS Shares Purchased by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 29.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 21,844 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,005 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $2,940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NTRS. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 84.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,567 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $199,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial acquired a new stake in Northern Trust during the second quarter worth about $3,118,000. Aviva PLC raised its stake in Northern Trust by 8.4% during the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 149,911 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $19,007,000 after purchasing an additional 11,587 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,907,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $241,840,000 after purchasing an additional 96,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 25.7% in the 2nd quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 40,090 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,212,000 after purchasing an additional 8,201 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NTRS. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $136.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup increased their price target on Northern Trust from $135.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $136.00.

Northern Trust Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $145.74 on Monday. Northern Trust Corporation has a 52 week low of $81.62 and a 52 week high of $146.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $134.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $130.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.03. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.37% and a net margin of 11.99%.The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 37.30%.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other news, insider John Landers sold 766 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.35, for a total value of $95,252.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $909,371.55. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Susan Cohen Levy sold 27,591 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.13, for a total transaction of $3,535,234.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 48,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,183,169.41. This trade represents a 36.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Company 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.