Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Shares Sold by National Pension Service

National Pension Service lessened its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 337,529 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 25,823 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $34,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of NTRS. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 28.2% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 17,687 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,593,000 after acquiring an additional 3,894 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 8.4% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,807 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 0.4% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 43,871 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,941,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 20.9% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,038 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $110.22 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $108.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.01. Northern Trust Co. has a 1-year low of $79.30 and a 1-year high of $114.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $21.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.08.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTRS has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. 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 research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,242,722. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.67, for a total value 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 approximately $6,585,448.83. This trade represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.