Cerity Partners LLC Raises Position in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 524,081 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 33,728 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $71,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in Northern Trust by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,493,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,285,236,000 after buying an additional 97,584 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Northern Trust by 5.9% in 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 buying an additional 161,826 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in 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 valued at $320,092,000 after buying an additional 133,751 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Northern Trust by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,953,020 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $266,763,000 after buying an additional 5,564 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in 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 valued at $259,066,000 after buying an additional 88,699 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $170.60 on Wednesday. Northern Trust Corporation has a 1-year low of $107.08 and a 1-year high of $173.66. The stock has a market cap of $31.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $160.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.10.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.34. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. Northern Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.68 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 33.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on NTRS. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $155.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Northern Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.08.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 225 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $166.41 per share, with a total value of $37,442.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,355,409.45. The trade was a 2.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total transaction of $3,321,039.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,088,582.08. This represents a 51.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 22,800 shares of company stock valued at $3,785,251 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

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.