Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Shares Sold by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC lowered its position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,066 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 98 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the third quarter worth $39,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 51.2% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on 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 boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.58.

Northern Trust Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $111.00 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $106.44 and a 200-day moving average of $98.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $22.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08. Northern Trust Co. has a twelve month low of $76.67 and a twelve month high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total value of $251,828.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,918,883.88. The trade was a 11.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total transaction of $1,010,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 47,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,305,467. This represents a 15.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 40,631 shares of company stock worth $4,550,459. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.