Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 6,850 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 16.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,081 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,850 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $6,606,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 13.1% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 682 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 5.1% during the third quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 1,666 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 2.3% during the third quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,717 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Northern Trust by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,071 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its position in Northern Trust by 87.4% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 208 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on NTRS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Northern Trust from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Evercore upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $139.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Northern Trust from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $148.75.

Northern Trust Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $145.23 on Tuesday. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12 month low of $81.62 and a 12 month high of $157.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $145.49 and a 200-day moving average of $135.65. The company has a market cap of $26.99 billion, a PE ratio of 16.62, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 14.87%. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northern Trust news, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 1,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.05, for a total transaction of $208,872.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 20,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,904,336.10. This trade represents a 6.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard Petrino acquired 1,000 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $148.91 per share, with a total value of $148,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,168.12. This trade represents a 42.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,641 shares of company stock valued at $4,269,900. Insiders own 0.77% 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.