Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 5,189 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 231,139 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,189 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Northern Trust worth $32,260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. CWS Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 2.0% during the first quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in Northern Trust by 16.5% during the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Northern Trust by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,379 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $598,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in Northern Trust by 3.2% in the first quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 2,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NTRS shares. Weiss Ratings raised Northern Trust from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $170.00 to $179.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group set a $186.00 price target on Northern Trust in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Northern Trust from $159.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Northern Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $178.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northern Trust news, insider Clive Bellows sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.02, for a total value of $462,056.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 28,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,656,369.34. This trade represents a 9.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $166.41 per share, for a total transaction of $37,442.25. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,355,409.45. The trade was a 2.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 22,800 shares of company stock valued at $3,785,251 over the last quarter. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $184.68 on Monday. Northern Trust Corporation has a 52 week low of $118.99 and a 52 week high of $191.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.49. The firm has a market cap of $34.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.25.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.34. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.51%.

Northern Trust 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.