Rhumbline Advisers Trims Stake in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Rhumbline Advisers cut its position in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 385,526 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 9,310 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.20% of Northern Trust worth $51,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in Northern Trust by 84.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,567 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $199,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 2.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,947,456 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $262,128,000 after buying an additional 40,048 shares during the period. Aviva PLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 11,587 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Northern Trust by 228.0% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 75,829 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,207,000 after acquiring an additional 52,711 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in Northern Trust by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 13,920 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,874,000 after acquiring an additional 4,577 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other news, Director Richard Petrino purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $148.91 per share, with a total value of $148,910.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 3,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $496,168.12. This represents a 42.88% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.62, for a total transaction of $3,740,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 26,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,928,871.58. The trade was a 48.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 27,957 shares of company stock worth $4,156,280 over the last ninety days. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $146.38 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $27.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.27. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $2.42 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research raised shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $139.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.