Nicholas Company Inc. Sells 17,180 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Nicholas Company Inc. trimmed its holdings in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 98,921 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 17,180 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $12,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Northern Trust by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,850,088 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $774,411,000 after purchasing an additional 363,472 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Northern Trust by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,443,599 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $339,711,000 after purchasing an additional 558,287 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Northern Trust by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,013,123 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $297,245,000 after purchasing an additional 20,010 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Northern Trust by 47.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,810,816 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $178,637,000 after purchasing an additional 585,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Northern Trust by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,184,610 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $150,197,000 after purchasing an additional 72,867 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS stock opened at $128.67 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $129.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.60. 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 $24.61 billion, a PE ratio of 15.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.03. Northern Trust had a net margin of 11.99% and a return on equity of 14.37%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on NTRS shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $142.00 price objective for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.71.

Insider Activity

In other Northern Trust news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $126.66 per share, with a total value of $34,198.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 2,795 shares in the company, valued at $354,014.70. This represents a 10.69% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

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.