Commerce Bank Makes New Investment in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Commerce Bank acquired a new position in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 48,513 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $8,433,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Reflection Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 99.0% in the first quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 203 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Northern Trust in the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $183.90 on Monday. Northern Trust Corporation has a 1 year low of $121.12 and a 1 year high of $195.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.65 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The business’s 50-day moving average is $181.52 and its 200 day moving average is $163.35.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly 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. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 14.76%.The business had revenue of $2.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. Northern Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This is a positive change from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 27.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTRS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $176.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Northern Trust from $179.50 to $185.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $189.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 255 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $179.57 per share, for a total transaction of $45,790.35. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,388. The trade was a 3.13% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.