Conning Inc. Takes Position in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Conning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,605 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 5,340.0% during the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 272 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. GFG Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 68.4% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 320 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NTRS stock opened at $124.72 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $23.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.83. Northern Trust Corporation has a one year low of $81.62 and a one year high of $135.48.

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

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. This is an increase from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is currently 37.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northern Trust news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 256 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $126.34 per share, for a total transaction of $32,343.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 2,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $319,008.50. This trade represents a 11.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective (down from $120.00) on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Northern Trust from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.23.

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.