Retirement Systems of Alabama Cuts Stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 2.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 44,086 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,044 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $3,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. FMR LLC boosted 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 valued at $1,637,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,685 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 13.0% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Northern Trust by 4,660.5% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 399,932 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,586,000 after acquiring an additional 391,531 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 3.9% in the 2nd 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 period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,003,675 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $168,253,000 after purchasing an additional 219,387 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.00.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $100.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.07. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $104.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.75. Northern Trust Co. has a 52-week low of $76.67 and a 52-week high of $111.87.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.80, for a total transaction of $529,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 49,756 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,184.80. This represents a 9.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 27,874 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,630,839. The trade was a 37.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 82,151 shares of company stock worth $8,489,889 in the last ninety days. 0.64% of the stock is owned by 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.