AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 212,089 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 55.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 597,146 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 212,089 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.29% of Northern Trust worth $49,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 27,976 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,361,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Northern Trust by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 70,473 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,947,000 after buying an additional 3,398 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 98,659 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,325,000 after buying an additional 2,868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 109,454 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,236,000 after buying an additional 6,669 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $84.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other news, EVP Teresa Parker sold 5,883 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total transaction of $494,524.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 83,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,041,285.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.12, for a total transaction of $163,462.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,120. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa Parker sold 5,883 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total transaction of $494,524.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 83,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,041,285.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,738 shares of company stock worth $1,191,388. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $90.07 on Friday. Northern Trust Co. has a twelve month low of $62.44 and a twelve month high of $92.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.43 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $87.88 and its 200 day moving average is $85.55.

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

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 66.23%.

Northern Trust 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.