Welch Group LLC Acquires 87 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Welch Group LLC lifted its holdings in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 87 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 4.9% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,850,088 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $774,411,000 after buying an additional 363,472 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Northern Trust by 19.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,443,599 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $339,711,000 after purchasing an additional 558,287 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Northern Trust by 0.7% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,013,123 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $297,245,000 after purchasing an additional 20,010 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Northern Trust by 47.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,810,816 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $178,637,000 after purchasing an additional 585,992 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its position in Northern Trust by 6.6% in the second quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,184,610 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $150,197,000 after purchasing an additional 72,867 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $124.72 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.83. Northern Trust Corporation has a 52-week low of $81.62 and a 52-week high of $135.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.31.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 11.75%.The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.34 EPS. Northern Trust’s quarterly revenue was down 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is presently 37.60%.

Insider Activity

In other Northern Trust news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 256 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $126.34 per share, for a total transaction of $32,343.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $319,008.50. This trade represents a 11.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Northern Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Northern Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.23.

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation, a financial holding company, provides wealth management, asset servicing, asset management, and banking solutions for corporations, institutions, families, and individuals worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Servicing and Wealth Management. The Asset Servicing segment offers asset servicing and related services, including custody, fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, investment management, investment risk and analytical services, employee benefit services, securities lending, foreign exchange, treasury management, brokerage services, transition management services, banking, and cash management services.