Insider Selling: Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Insider Sells $428,451.51 in Stock

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) insider Guy Gibson sold 3,009 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.39, for a total value of $428,451.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 29,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,176,583.48. This represents a 9.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Guy Gibson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, February 12th, Guy Gibson sold 1,043 shares of Northern Trust stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.43, for a total transaction of $153,769.49.

Northern Trust Trading Down 3.4%

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $138.59 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. Northern Trust Corporation has a one year low of $81.62 and a one year high of $157.60. The firm has a market cap of $25.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.27.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 14.87%. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 36.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NTRS. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Monday, February 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Northern Trust from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $136.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.75.

Institutional Trading of Northern Trust

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in 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 valued at $262,128,000 after buying an additional 40,048 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter worth $64,863,000. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 8.4% in the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 149,911 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $19,007,000 after acquiring an additional 11,587 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 228.0% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 75,829 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,207,000 after acquiring an additional 52,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 4.3% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 360,527 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $48,527,000 after acquiring an additional 14,899 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northern Trust Company Profile

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.