Bank of America Corp DE Boosts Stock Position in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 5.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 622,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 33,029 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $86,931,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 122.6% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 48,284 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,595,000 after purchasing an additional 26,594 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,959,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 1,838.1% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 180,034 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,793,000 after buying an additional 170,745 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 5.9% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,126,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group set a $186.00 price target on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Northern Trust from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $180.68.

Northern Trust Stock Up 0.7%

NTRS opened at $185.50 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.92, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $177.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.49. Northern Trust Corporation has a twelve month low of $121.12 and a twelve month high of $191.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 255 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $179.57 per share, with a total value of $45,790.35. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,388. This represents a 3.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

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.