Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Sells 149,229 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC reduced its position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 92.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,791 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 149,229 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings 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 raised 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 buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings 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 worth $5,947,000 after buying an additional 3,398 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Northern Trust by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 98,659 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,325,000 after acquiring an additional 2,868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Northern Trust by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 109,454 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after acquiring an additional 6,669 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $90.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Northern Trust Co. has a 12 month low of $62.44 and a 12 month high of $92.82. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.59.

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. The company had revenue of $2.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 10.53%. The firm’s revenue was up 53.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Northern Trust from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday. Three 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, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.42.

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.