ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 5,743 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,794 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,743 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $6,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 5.7% during the third quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 21,173 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 26,744 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,600,000 after purchasing an additional 3,166 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Northern Trust by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 3,802 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Twin Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,678 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,052,000 after buying an additional 2,607 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 245 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $151.85 per share, with a total value of $37,203.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,052,472.35. The trade was a 3.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.62, for a total transaction of $3,740,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 26,259 shares in the company, valued at $3,928,871.58. This represents a 48.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $144.21 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $27.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.50, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.27. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12 month low of $81.62 and a 12 month high of $157.60.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.87% and a net margin of 12.15%.The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is presently 36.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore raised their target price on Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.75.

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.