KBC Group NV Cuts Stock Position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

KBC Group NV trimmed its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 319,550 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 82,903 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $28,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 850,556 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in Northern Trust by 3.9% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,046,757 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $591,787,000 after purchasing an additional 261,285 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,644,205 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $222,060,000 after buying an additional 91,816 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Northern Trust by 12.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,003,675 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $168,253,000 after purchasing an additional 219,387 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Northern Trust by 2.0% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,401,680 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $117,713,000 after buying an additional 26,984 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $84.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.67.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $107.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.06. Northern Trust Co. has a 1-year low of $73.98 and a 1-year high of $108.53. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $95.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.69.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 27,874 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.50, for a total value of $2,801,337.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,078 shares in the company, valued at $4,630,839. This trade represents a 37.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.18, for a total transaction of $1,698,972.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,476.46. The trade was a 78.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 80,906 shares of company stock valued at $8,176,652 over the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.