Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stock Holdings in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 27.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 175,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,758 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $24,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Northern Trust by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $669,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Northern Trust by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $558,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in Northern Trust by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,379 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $598,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 3.2% in the first quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 2,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Up 2.4%

NTRS stock opened at $191.13 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $171.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.83. Northern Trust Corporation has a 52 week low of $118.99 and a 52 week high of $191.47. The company has a market cap of $35.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.25.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.34. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.51%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of Northern Trust 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,088,582.08. The trade was a 51.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 225 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director directly owned 8,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,355,409.45. The trade was a 2.84% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 22,800 shares of company stock valued at $3,785,251 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore set a $179.00 price target on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Northern Trust from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group set a $186.00 price target on Northern Trust in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $178.75.

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.