Fiducient Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Fiducient Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 96.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 66,808 shares during the quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 118.4% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 249 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 528.3% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 377 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NTRS opened at $88.29 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $102.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $102.84. Northern Trust Co. has a fifty-two week low of $79.32 and a fifty-two week high of $114.67. The company has a market capitalization of $17.28 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. 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 (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS 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, analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NTRS shares. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 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 report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target 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. Finally, 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. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total value of $251,828.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,883.88. This trade represents a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total transaction of $100,296.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $851,401.60. This represents a 10.54 % 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

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.