NFJ Investment Group LLC Purchases New Stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 85,331 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $7,682,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,637,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,685 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Northern Trust by 13.0% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,413,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $622,596,000 after acquiring an additional 850,556 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 0.5% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,085,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $637,873,000 after acquiring an additional 38,360 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,644,205 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $222,060,000 after purchasing an additional 91,816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 12.3% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $84.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.00.

Northern Trust Stock Down 0.5 %

Northern Trust stock opened at $109.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $21.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.07. Northern Trust Co. has a 52-week low of $76.67 and a 52-week high of $111.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $100.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.98.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.31%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total transaction of $1,010,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 47,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,305,467. This represents a 15.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,120. This represents a 64.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 84,006 shares of company stock worth $8,653,352 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Company 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.