UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Sells 200,253 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lessened its position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,355,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 200,253 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.74% of Northern Trust worth $235,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the second quarter valued at $2,523,781,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Northern Trust by 1.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in Northern Trust during the second quarter valued at $1,060,553,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Northern Trust by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,747,840 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $511,917,000 after purchasing an additional 301,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. UBS Group set a $186.00 price objective on Northern Trust in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Evercore set a $179.00 target price on Northern Trust in a report on Monday, July 6th. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Northern Trust from $179.50 to $185.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $180.68.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Northern Trust stock opened at $185.56 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.25. Northern Trust Corporation has a 1-year low of $121.12 and a 1-year high of $195.78. The company’s 50-day moving average is $183.06 and its 200 day moving average is $164.87.

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

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. 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 is Friday, September 4th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 27.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 255 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $179.57 per share, for a total transaction of $45,790.35. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 8,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,388. The trade was a 3.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 1,800 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.90, for a total transaction of $332,820.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 92,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,180,353.30. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by 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.