Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Purchases Shares of 3,658 Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 3,658 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $636,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the second quarter worth approximately $2,523,781,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Northern Trust during the second quarter valued at approximately $361,079,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $257,410,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $126,794,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 2nd quarter worth $144,091,000. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $186.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $34.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.25. Northern Trust Corporation has a 1 year low of $121.12 and a 1 year high of $195.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $181.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $163.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The asset manager reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $1.52. The company had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 16.91%. Northern Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This is a boost from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 27.47%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 255 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $179.57 per share, with a total value of $45,790.35. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 8,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,388. The trade was a 3.13% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NTRS shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $189.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $176.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.68.

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.