Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 32,557 Shares of Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 66.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 81,638 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,557 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $11,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Northern Trust by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,493,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,285,236,000 after acquiring an additional 97,584 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Northern Trust by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,378,196 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $320,092,000 after acquiring an additional 133,751 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Northern Trust by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,947,456 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $262,128,000 after acquiring an additional 40,048 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Northern Trust by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,924,707 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $259,066,000 after acquiring an additional 88,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Northern Trust by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,414,595 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $190,404,000 after acquiring an additional 48,417 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $167.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market cap of $30.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.27. Northern Trust Corporation has a 52 week low of $104.09 and a 52 week high of $173.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $152.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.35.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NTRS shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $155.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $153.50 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.08.

Insider Activity

In other Northern Trust news, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total value of $3,321,039.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,088,582.08. This trade represents a 51.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 29,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,176,583.48. This trade represents a 9.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,514 shares of company stock worth $4,890,937. 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.