Forza Wealth Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Forza Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,159 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NTRS. FMR LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,542,685 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 850,556 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 38,360 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares during the period. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 91,816 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NTRS traded up $0.69 on Monday, reaching $100.15. 577,714 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 956,822. The stock has a market cap of $19.85 billion, a PE ratio of 12.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Northern Trust Co. has a twelve month low of $76.67 and a twelve month high of $111.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $105.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.17.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NTRS shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of 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 research note on Thursday, September 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,397 shares in the company, valued at $462,476.46. The trade was a 78.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total transaction of $1,010,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 47,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,305,467. This represents a 15.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 82,151 shares of company stock worth $8,489,889. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Northern Trust

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.