Virtu Financial LLC Purchases Shares of 7,413 Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 7,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $667,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $1,637,435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,542,685 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted 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 purchasing an additional 850,556 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 4,660.5% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 399,932 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,586,000 after purchasing an additional 391,531 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 3.9% in 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. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northern Trust Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NTRS stock opened at $104.98 on Friday. Northern Trust Co. has a 12-month low of $76.67 and a 12-month high of $111.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $103.30 and a 200-day moving average of $92.27. The firm has a market cap of $20.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.07.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is presently 37.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 5,000 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.80, for a total value of $529,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 49,756 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,184.80. This trade represents a 9.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 27,874 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.50, for a total transaction of $2,801,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,078 shares in the company, valued at $4,630,839. The trade was a 37.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 82,151 shares of company stock valued at $8,489,889 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTRS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.00.

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.