Garland Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Garland Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 38,240 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,165 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust accounts for approximately 3.2% of Garland Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Garland Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $3,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,637,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,685 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,577,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $141,986,000 after purchasing an additional 16,500 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $129,909,000 after purchasing an additional 8,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 201.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,791,000 after purchasing an additional 644,261 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTRS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,585,448.83. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total value of $100,296.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 a total of 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211 over the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $98.77 on Friday. Northern Trust Co. has a 1 year low of $79.32 and a 1 year high of $114.67. The stock has a market cap of $19.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day moving average of $107.42 and a 200-day moving average of $102.37. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. Equities analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. 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.