Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Invests $1.36 Million in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 13,231 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,356,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 9.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,637,435,000 after buying an additional 1,542,685 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 201.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,791,000 after purchasing an additional 644,261 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 62.8% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 678,461 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $69,542,000 after purchasing an additional 261,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $7,682,000. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $99.27 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.34. Northern Trust Co. has a 12-month low of $79.32 and a 12-month high of $114.67. The firm has a market cap of $19.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.15, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

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

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 30.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.50.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,242,722. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.67, for a total transaction of $252,042.79. Following the sale, the insider now owns 58,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,585,448.83. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211 in the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is owned by 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.