Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Decreases Position in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 138,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 23,962 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.07% of Northern Trust worth $18,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Northern Trust by 13.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,112 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,984,000 after purchasing an additional 2,363 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 39.1% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 16,557 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 4,653 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 79.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the second quarter valued at $267,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 4.6% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 29,290 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,714,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $166.13 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The business has a 50-day moving average of $161.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $148.39. Northern Trust Corporation has a 12 month low of $107.08 and a 12 month high of $173.66.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.84%.The firm’s revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. 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 is currently 33.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, insider Clive Bellows sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.02, for a total transaction of $462,056.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 28,217 shares in the company, valued at $4,656,369.34. This represents a 9.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total value of $3,321,039.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,088,582.08. This represents a 51.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 22,800 shares of company stock worth $3,785,251 over the last three months. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Northern Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $159.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.08.

Northern Trust Company 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.