Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 325,630 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,629 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.16% of Northern Trust worth $33,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NTRS. KBC Group NV raised its stake 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 worth $386,809,000 after acquiring an additional 388,692 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Northern Trust by 62.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 261,797 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 359,304 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $36,829,000 after purchasing an additional 118,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Northern Trust during the third quarter worth about $7,682,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NTRS. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.46.

Northern Trust Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $97.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.01 billion, a PE ratio of 9.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.68. Northern Trust Co. has a 52-week low of $79.32 and a 52-week high of $114.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $107.04 and a 200 day moving average of $102.88.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 81,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,242,722. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 $1,918,883.88. This represents a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211 in the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.