Continental Advisors LLC Sells 9,000 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Continental Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 21.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,801 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 9,000 shares during the period. Northern Trust comprises 1.6% of Continental Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Continental Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $3,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $83,550,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 644,261 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 451.9% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 555,631 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $56,866,000 after acquiring an additional 454,956 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new position in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,715,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 388,692 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 58,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,585,448.83. This trade represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total value of $2,936,191.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. This represents a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NTRS. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Northern Trust from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.08.

Northern Trust Stock Down 1.7 %

Northern Trust stock opened at $86.78 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $99.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. Northern Trust Co. has a 1-year low of $79.68 and a 1-year high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 30.67%.

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.