AIA Group Ltd Acquires 10,786 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 577,994 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,786 shares during the period. Northern Trust makes up approximately 2.0% of AIA Group Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. AIA Group Ltd owned 0.28% of Northern Trust worth $48,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NTRS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Northern Trust by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,711,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,644,763,000 after purchasing an additional 457,748 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,791,735 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $749,810,000 after buying an additional 126,172 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 4.2% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,497,047 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $451,415,000 after buying an additional 264,805 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,955,048 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $413,757,000 after acquiring an additional 89,696 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Northern Trust by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,980,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $346,015,000 after acquiring an additional 64,707 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NTRS traded down $0.05 on Thursday, reaching $81.18. The stock had a trading volume of 799,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,503,930. The company has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $83.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.82. Northern Trust Co. has a 12-month low of $62.44 and a 12-month high of $89.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.81). The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 12.57% and a net margin of 7.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 66.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TheStreet raised shares of Northern Trust from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $72.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Steven L. Fradkin sold 30,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $2,434,703.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 55,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,462,687.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Profile

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.