Wealthfront Advisers LLC Purchases Shares of 19,734 Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 19,734 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $3,431,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth $1,959,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 5.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 1,838.1% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 180,034 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,793,000 after buying an additional 170,745 shares during the period. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter worth $67,126,000. Finally, Strs Ohio increased its stake in Northern Trust by 83.0% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 136,403 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $18,631,000 after buying an additional 61,858 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on NTRS. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Northern Trust from $189.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research raised Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Evercore set a $179.00 target price on Northern Trust in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $176.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.68.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 255 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were 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 owned 8,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,388. This represents a 3.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NTRS opened at $182.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $181.32 and a 200 day moving average of $163.13. Northern Trust Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $121.12 and a fifty-two week high of $195.78.

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

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

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

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.