Rathbones Group PLC Has $4.76 Million Stake in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Rathbones Group PLC lowered its stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 22.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,868 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 10,182 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $4,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,493,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,285,236,000 after buying an additional 97,584 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,378,196 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $320,092,000 after buying an additional 133,751 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,947,456 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $262,128,000 after buying an additional 40,048 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,924,707 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $259,066,000 after buying an additional 88,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,414,595 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $190,404,000 after buying an additional 48,417 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $143.32 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.56 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $143.26 and its 200 day moving average is $137.36. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12 month low of $81.62 and a 12 month high of $157.60.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 14.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 36.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 3,255 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.89, for a total value of $468,361.95. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 14,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,093,887.28. The trade was a 18.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 245 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $151.85 per share, for a total transaction of $37,203.25. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,052,472.35. This trade represents a 3.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 34,905 shares of company stock worth $5,166,714 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Northern Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $136.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Northern Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.55.

About Northern Trust

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.