Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Position Boosted by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 13.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,413,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 850,556 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 3.62% of Northern Trust worth $622,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 86.8% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,976 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 40,507 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,418,000 after purchasing an additional 10,434 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 100,268 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,461,000 after purchasing an additional 4,064 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 2,003.9% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 20,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,754,000 after purchasing an additional 19,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $90,532,000. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on NTRS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Northern Trust from $85.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Northern Trust from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Northern Trust from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.75.

Northern Trust Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $89.75 on Tuesday. Northern Trust Co. has a 1-year low of $62.44 and a 1-year high of $92.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $18.36 billion, a PE ratio of 19.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.07.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The asset manager reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 10.53% and a return on equity of 12.24%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 53.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.12, for a total value of $163,462.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $88,120. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.12, for a total value of $163,462.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $88,120. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mark C. Gossett sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.90, for a total transaction of $533,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,552,052.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,738 shares of company stock valued at $1,191,388. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northern Trust Company 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.