Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. Sells 52,965 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 43.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,669 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 52,965 shares during the period. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $9,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in Northern Trust by 4.9% in the third quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,659 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 13.1% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 682 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 1,666 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,812 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,717 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northern Trust news, insider Guy Gibson sold 3,009 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.39, for a total transaction of $428,451.51. Following the sale, the insider owned 29,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,176,583.48. This represents a 9.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 245 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $151.85 per share, for a total transaction of $37,203.25. Following the acquisition, the director owned 6,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,052,472.35. The trade was a 3.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 34,905 shares of company stock valued at $5,166,714 in the last 90 days. 0.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on NTRS. Truist Financial set a $148.00 target price on Northern Trust in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Northern Trust from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research raised Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.75.

Northern Trust Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NTRS opened at $136.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Northern Trust Corporation has a one year low of $81.62 and a one year high of $157.60. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $145.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.44.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.87% and a net margin of 12.15%.The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.61%.

About Northern Trust

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.