The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Takes $16.23 Million Position in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 93,338 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $16,226,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Northern Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,523,781,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Northern Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $361,079,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $257,410,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the fourth quarter worth $126,794,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the second quarter worth $144,091,000. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NTRS stock opened at $186.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $182.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. Northern Trust Corporation has a 52-week low of $121.12 and a 52-week high of $195.78.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The asset manager reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $1.52. The company had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 16.91%. Northern Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.59 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This is a boost from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.47%.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 255 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $179.57 per share, for a total transaction of $45,790.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,388. The trade was a 3.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 1,800 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.90, for a total value of $332,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 92,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,180,353.30. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Northern Trust from $157.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Evercore set a $179.00 price objective on Northern Trust in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Northern Trust from $189.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $176.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.68.

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.