US Bancorp DE Lowers Stock Position in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

US Bancorp DE lowered its stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 1.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,920 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 412 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $2,779,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 47.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,810,816 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $178,637,000 after buying an additional 585,992 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,443,599 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $339,711,000 after acquiring an additional 558,287 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Northern Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,905,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Northern Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,834,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 529.4% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 461,383 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $45,515,000 after purchasing an additional 388,081 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $129.02 on Wednesday. Northern Trust Corporation has a 1-year low of $81.62 and a 1-year high of $135.48. 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 stock has a market cap of $24.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $129.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.13.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 11.75%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 256 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $126.34 per share, with a total value of $32,343.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 2,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $319,008.50. This represents a 11.28% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $123.00 price target on shares of Northern Trust and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Zacks Research cut shares of Northern Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Northern Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Northern Trust in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $142.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.23.

Northern Trust Profile

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.