Pacer Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 37.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,317 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,696 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $1,300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 122.6% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 48,284 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,595,000 after acquiring an additional 26,594 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $1,959,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Northern Trust by 1,838.1% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 180,034 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $22,793,000 after purchasing an additional 170,745 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Northern Trust by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,894,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $395,395,000 after purchasing an additional 161,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $67,126,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 255 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $179.57 per share, for a total transaction of $45,790.35. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 8,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,388. This represents a 3.13% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $185.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $33.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50 day moving average is $177.88 and its 200 day moving average is $160.49. Northern Trust Corporation has a twelve month low of $121.12 and a twelve month high of $191.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $189.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group set a $186.00 target price on Northern Trust in a research note on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust currently 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.