Independent Financial Group LLC Buys Shares of 2,908 Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,908 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $406,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NTRS. CWM LLC increased its position in Northern Trust by 122.6% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 48,284 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,595,000 after buying an additional 26,594 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $1,959,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 60.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,266 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,660,000 after buying an additional 14,846 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1,838.1% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 180,034 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,793,000 after acquiring an additional 170,745 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $395,395,000 after acquiring an additional 161,826 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NTRS. UBS Group set a $186.00 price objective on Northern Trust in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Evercore set a $179.00 target price on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Northern Trust from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Northern Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.25.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $180.52 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.65. Northern Trust Corporation has a 52-week low of $121.12 and a 52-week high of $191.60.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.34. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 14.76%.The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.49 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. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This is an increase 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 225 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $166.41 per share, for a total transaction of $37,442.25. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,355,409.45. This trade represents a 2.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total transaction of $3,321,039.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,088,582.08. The trade was a 51.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

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.