Wealthfront Advisers LLC Increases Stake in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 43.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,904 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,890 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $3,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 0.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,593,674 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,864,652,000 after purchasing an additional 188,472 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 19.5% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,793,757 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $988,170,000 after buying an additional 1,270,748 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 3.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,196,659 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $656,229,000 after buying an additional 184,726 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,501,628 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $443,971,000 after acquiring an additional 58,029 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,692,597 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $341,399,000 after acquiring an additional 33,227 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In related news, insider Clive Bellows sold 1,148 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.26, for a total transaction of $166,758.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 34,133 shares in the company, valued at $4,958,159.58. This represents a 3.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.62, for a total value of $3,740,500.00. Following 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 27,957 shares of company stock worth $4,156,280. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $146.38 on Friday. Northern Trust Corporation has a one year low of $81.62 and a one year high of $157.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $27.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $143.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.21.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 14.87%. Northern Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.26 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders 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 (DPR) is currently 36.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price 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. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.75.

About Northern Trust

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.