Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 325,630 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,629 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $33,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 9.9% in 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 period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Northern Trust by 1.1% in the third 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 buying an additional 16,500 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $129,909,000 after buying an additional 8,102 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Northern Trust by 201.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 928,854 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $95,208,000 after acquiring an additional 14,362 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total transaction of $251,828.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,883.88. This represents a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on 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 represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northern Trust Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $97.15 on Friday. Northern Trust Co. has a 12-month low of $79.32 and a 12-month high of $114.67. The company has a market cap of $19.01 billion, a PE ratio of 9.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $107.04 and a 200 day moving average of $102.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.46.

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.