Verity Asset Management Inc. Buys Shares of 1,607 Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Verity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,607 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 2.0% in the second quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 121,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,422,000 after purchasing an additional 2,352 shares during the last quarter. Tredje AP fonden grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 13.2% in the second quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 18,427 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 2,151 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 13.3% in the second quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,883 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Northern Trust in the second quarter valued at $3,052,000. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Northern Trust in the second quarter valued at $252,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $127.68 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $129.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12-month low of $81.62 and a 12-month high of $135.48. The firm has a market cap of $24.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.31.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.30%.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $126.66 per share, with a total value of $34,198.20. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $354,014.70. This represents a 10.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on NTRS shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $135.00 price objective on Northern Trust in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.71.

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.