Diversified Trust Co. Invests $629,000 in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Diversified Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,603 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $629,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in Northern Trust by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,493,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,285,236,000 after acquiring an additional 97,584 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.7% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,501,628 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $443,971,000 after purchasing an additional 58,029 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 6.0% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,378,196 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $320,092,000 after purchasing an additional 133,751 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $276,087,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 2.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,947,456 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $262,128,000 after purchasing an additional 40,048 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Down 2.2%

Northern Trust stock opened at $134.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $144.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Northern Trust Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $81.62 and a fifty-two week high of $157.60.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 14.87%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is presently 36.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Guy Gibson sold 3,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.39, for a total transaction of $428,451.51. Following the sale, the insider owned 29,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,176,583.48. This trade represents a 9.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Clive Bellows sold 1,148 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.26, for a total value of $166,758.48. Following the transaction, the insider owned 34,133 shares in the company, valued at $4,958,159.58. This trade represents a 3.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,905 shares of company stock valued at $5,166,714. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRS has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $136.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Truist Financial set a $148.00 target price on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.75.

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.