Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Shares Sold by National Pension Service

National Pension Service cut its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 337,529 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 25,823 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.17% of Northern Trust worth $34,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in Northern Trust by 9.3% during the third 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 period. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in Northern Trust by 0.5% during 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Northern Trust by 9.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $386,809,000 after acquiring an additional 388,692 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Northern Trust by 1.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,577,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $141,986,000 after acquiring an additional 16,500 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 201.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,791,000 after buying an additional 644,261 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total transaction of $251,828.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,918,883.88. This represents a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total transaction of $2,936,191.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. This trade represents a 49.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211 over the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NTRS stock opened at $110.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $21.85 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average of $108.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.01. Northern Trust Co. has a 1-year low of $79.30 and a 1-year high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. On average, analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.67%.

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.