Commerce Bank Takes $8.43 Million Position in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Commerce Bank purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 48,513 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $8,433,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Northern Trust during the second quarter worth about $2,523,781,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,493,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,285,236,000 after purchasing an additional 97,584 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,747,840 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $511,917,000 after buying an additional 301,164 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,894,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $395,395,000 after buying an additional 161,826 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Northern Trust by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,455,996 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $342,744,000 after buying an additional 36,322 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Northern Trust from $189.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on Northern Trust from $176.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.68.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $183.90 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.35. The company has a market capitalization of $33.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Northern Trust Corporation has a 1-year low of $121.12 and a 1-year high of $195.78.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The asset manager reported $4.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $1.52. The firm had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. 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. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. This is a boost from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is currently 27.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 255 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 approximately $1,508,388. This trade represents a 3.13% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.