Insider Selling: Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) EVP Sells 16,984 Shares of Stock

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) EVP Susan Levy sold 16,984 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.15, for a total value of $2,855,859.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 59,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,984,410.70. The trade was a 22.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Susan Cohen Levy also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, October 26th, Susan Levy sold 3,922 shares of Northern Trust stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.69, for a total value of $661,602.18.

Northern Trust Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ NTRS traded up $0.80 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $170.35. 984,256 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,103,491. The company has a 50 day moving average of $177.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Northern Trust Corporation has a 52-week low of $121.53 and a 52-week high of $195.78. The firm has a market cap of $31.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.24.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The asset manager reported $3.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 17.97% and a net margin of 15.86%. Northern Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is presently 27.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Northern Trust by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 84,592 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $14,327,000 after acquiring an additional 8,764 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 5.7% in the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 2.4% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 3,405 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $681,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 7.3% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,814 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on NTRS shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Northern Trust from $208.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $189.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Northern Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $178.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $173.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $190.00 price target on Northern Trust in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $183.47.

Northern Trust Company Profile

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) is a financial services company that provides wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services. The company serves institutional investors, corporations, financial institutions, high-net-worth individuals and families.

Its offerings include custody and administration of investment assets, fund accounting, securities lending, foreign exchange, treasury services, investment management, trust and estate services, private banking and wealth planning.