Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Boosts Stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 136.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 380,891 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 219,614 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.19% of Northern Trust worth $39,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,061 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,286,000 after acquiring an additional 4,374 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 388,692 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 68.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,239,000 after acquiring an additional 5,578 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Northern Trust by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $129,909,000 after purchasing an additional 8,102 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.67, for a total transaction of $252,042.79. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,585,448.83. The trade was a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $429,852.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. 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 three months. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NTRS opened at $98.73 on Thursday. Northern Trust Co. has a 1 year low of $79.32 and a 1 year high of $114.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $106.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $104.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $119.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.69.

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.