California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 345,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 13,658 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.17% of Northern Trust worth $35,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth $83,550,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 201.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,791,000 after buying an additional 644,261 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 388,692 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 62.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 136.2% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 380,891 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,041,000 after purchasing an additional 219,614 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Northern Trust from $119.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at $9,242,722. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 58,449 shares in the company, valued at $6,585,448.83. The trade was 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 valued at $3,970,211 in the last three months. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $98.73 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $19.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $106.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.11. Northern Trust Co. has a 1-year low of $79.32 and a 1-year high of $114.67.

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 net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.