Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 219,387 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 12.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,003,675 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 219,387 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $168,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 140.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,802,792 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $489,640,000 after acquiring an additional 3,387,002 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $105,665,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $90,532,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Northern Trust by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,413,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $622,596,000 after buying an additional 850,556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,891,902 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $581,539,000 after acquiring an additional 394,855 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NTRS. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Northern Trust from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $85.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.12, for a total transaction of $163,462.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $88,120. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Teresa Parker sold 5,883 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $494,524.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 83,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,041,285.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.12, for a total transaction of $163,462.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,120. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,738 shares of company stock valued at $1,191,388 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $91.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Northern Trust Co. has a one year low of $62.44 and a one year high of $92.82. The business has a fifty day moving average of $87.59 and a 200 day moving average of $85.27.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The asset manager reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.03. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 10.53%. The business had revenue of $2.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.79 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 53.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 7.01 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.23%.

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation, a financial holding company, provides wealth management, asset servicing, asset management, and banking solutions for corporations, institutions, families, and individuals worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Servicing and Wealth Management. The Asset Servicing segment offers asset servicing and related services, including custody, fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, investment management, investment risk and analytical services, employee benefit services, securities lending, foreign exchange, treasury management, brokerage services, transition management services, banking, and cash management services.