MUFG Securities EMEA plc Grows Holdings in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

MUFG Securities EMEA plc grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 111.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,753 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 4,093 shares during the quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $1,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.0% during 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 6.0% during 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 last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 4.8% during 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 last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $257,410,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,414,595 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $190,404,000 after buying an additional 48,417 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northern Trust news, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total value of $3,321,039.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,088,582.08. This trade represents a 51.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $166.41 per share, for a total transaction of $37,442.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,355,409.45. This trade represents a 2.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 25,809 shares of company stock valued at $4,213,702 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NTRS stock opened at $169.79 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $31.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.25. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12-month low of $104.99 and a 12-month high of $173.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.28.

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

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on NTRS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Northern Trust from $153.50 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Barclays upped their price target on Northern Trust from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Northern Trust from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Northern Trust from $159.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Northern Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.08.

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.