California State Teachers Retirement System Buys 1,472 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 328,724 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,472 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.16% of Northern Trust worth $29,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Interval Partners LP bought a new position in Northern Trust in the first quarter worth approximately $10,226,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the first quarter worth $3,842,000. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the first quarter worth $1,762,000. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 9.7% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 93,277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,294,000 after purchasing an additional 8,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the first quarter worth $2,761,000. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northern Trust Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Northern Trust stock traded down $0.30 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $88.65. The stock had a trading volume of 931,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,373,149. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.53. The stock has a market cap of $18.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.10. 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 12 month low of $62.44 and a 12 month high of $92.46.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The asset manager reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.03. Northern Trust had a net margin of 10.53% and a return on equity of 12.24%. The company had revenue of $2.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 7.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, insider Peter Cherecwich sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.09, for a total transaction of $1,045,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 31,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,740,809.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NTRS shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price 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. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.33.

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.