FIL Ltd Has $5.34 Million Stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 52,087 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,057 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $5,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of NTRS. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,061 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 9.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $386,809,000 after buying an additional 388,692 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $129,909,000 after buying an additional 8,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $7,437,000. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $429,852.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,242,722. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.67, for a total transaction of $252,042.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 58,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,585,448.83. This trade represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211. 0.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NTRS opened at $88.29 on Friday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.28 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. Northern Trust Co. has a 52-week low of $79.32 and a 52-week high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NTRS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $104.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.31.

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.