Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Purchases New Stake in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 29,734 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $5,201,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NTRS. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 1.3% during the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $669,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 2.0% in the first quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $558,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in Northern Trust by 16.5% during the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. raised its stake in Northern Trust by 4.7% during the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 1,770 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 2,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $186.79 on Friday. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12 month low of $121.12 and a 12 month high of $195.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.55.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The asset manager reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $1.52. The firm had revenue of $2.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 14.76%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTRS has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $189.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $180.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 255 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $179.57 per share, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 3.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.90, for a total transaction of $332,820.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 92,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,180,353.30. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.