First Trust Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 60.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 472,701 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 177,642 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.24% of Northern Trust worth $48,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NTRS. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 118.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 528.3% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 377 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 83.0% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 494 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of Northern Trust 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. The trade was a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,242,722. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $90.60 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $17.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $98.61 and a 200 day moving average of $102.71. Northern Trust Co. has a 52 week low of $79.68 and a 52 week high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on NTRS shares. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Northern Trust from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $118.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.83.

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.