Northern Trust EVP & General Counsel Exercises & Sells $3.52M in Stock

Executive Summary

On October 27, 2026, Northern Trust Corp ($NTRS) filed a Form 4 disclosing that Susan Cohen Levy, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, executed options and sold a total of 20,906 shares of Common Stock across two trading sessions on October 23 and October 26, 2026. The gross proceeds generated from the open-market sales totaled approximately $3,517,462.

Transaction Breakdown

1. October 23, 2026:

   • Option Exercise (Code M): Exercised 16,984 employee stock options at a strike price of $88.06 per share.
   • Sale (Code S): Disposed of 16,984 shares at a weighted-average price of $168.15 per share (range: $168.00–$168.45), totaling $2,855,859.60.

2. October 26, 2026:

   • Option Exercise (Code M): Exercised the remaining 3,922 options at $88.06 per share.
   • Sale (Code S): Disposed of 3,922 shares at $168.69 per share, totaling $661,602.18.

Impact on Insider Holdings

• Direct Ownership: Following these transactions, Ms. Levy directly holds 59,378 shares (which includes 13,916 stock units payable on a 1-for-1 basis), leaving her baseline direct holding unchanged by the option exercises and subsequent sales.
• Indirect Ownership: Ms. Levy maintains significant indirect exposure through family estate planning entities:
  • 38,026 shares held in a 2024 GRAT.
  • 35,412 shares held in an Irrevocable Trust (for which her spouse serves as trustee).

Analysis and Significance

This transaction reflects a standard exercise-and-sale strategy rather than an outright liquidation of existing equity holdings. The exercised options were slated to expire on February 21, 2027. By exercising and simultaneously selling the shares, the insider captured the embedded spread between the $88.06 strike price and the prevailing market price (~$168+). Because her core base of common shares and trust holdings remained intact, the trading significance is rated as Medium.