Man Group plc Raises Stock Holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Man Group plc raised its position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 79.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 113,365 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 50,317 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.06% of Northern Trust worth $11,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 4.4% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,374 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 388,692 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $7,437,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $129,909,000 after acquiring an additional 8,102 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.95, for a total transaction of $329,835.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,736 shares in the company, valued at $2,872,163.20. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Teresa Parker sold 6,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.62, for a total value of $650,709.54. Following the sale, the insider now owns 79,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,988,322.42. This represents a 7.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,571 shares of company stock worth $1,410,397 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NTRS stock opened at $107.90 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $95.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.08. 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 firm has a market cap of $20.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.18. Northern Trust Co. has a 12 month low of $79.68 and a 12 month high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. Research analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America dropped their price target on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Northern Trust from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup dropped their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Northern Trust from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.83.

Northern Trust 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.