Saudi Central Bank Buys 5,325 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Saudi Central Bank raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 76.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,306 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 5,325 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $2,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the second quarter valued at $2,523,781,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,493,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,285,236,000 after purchasing an additional 97,584 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in Northern Trust in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,060,553,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,747,840 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $511,917,000 after purchasing an additional 301,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Northern Trust by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,894,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $395,395,000 after purchasing an additional 161,826 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Citigroup raised their price target 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. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Northern Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $178.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $180.68.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In related news, Director Robert Moritz, Jr. acquired 255 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $179.57 per share, with a total value of $45,790.35. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 1,800 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.90, for a total value of $332,820.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 92,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,180,353.30. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $186.63 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $184.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.24. Northern Trust Corporation has a twelve month low of $121.12 and a twelve month high of $195.78.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The asset manager reported $4.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $1.52. The business had revenue of $2.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The firm’s revenue was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.59 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This is a boost from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.21%.

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.