David Fox Jr Sells 3,255 Shares of Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Stock

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) CFO David Fox, Jr. sold 3,255 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.89, for a total value of $468,361.95. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 14,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,093,887.28. This represents a 18.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Northern Trust stock traded down $1.57 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $143.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,334,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,120,139. 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 market cap of $26.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.27. Northern Trust Corporation has a 52 week low of $81.62 and a 52 week high of $157.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $145.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.83.

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

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid 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 is Friday, March 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on NTRS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Northern Trust from $139.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $136.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NTRS. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 13.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,112 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,984,000 after buying an additional 2,363 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 39.1% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 16,557 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,633,000 after purchasing an additional 4,653 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $247,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 5,225.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 213 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Northern Trust by 251.0% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,466 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.