Beacon Financial Group Reduces Position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Beacon Financial Group decreased its holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,595 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 335 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Group’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $369,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC lifted its position in Northern Trust by 26.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,183 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 2,520 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake in Northern Trust by 303.0% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 798 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $488,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 912.4% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 1,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 4.1% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,582 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,213,000 after acquiring an additional 968 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 58,449 shares in the company, valued at $6,585,448.83. This trade represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total value of $2,936,191.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,586 shares in the company, valued at $2,987,202.96. This trade represents a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,631 shares of company stock valued at $4,550,459. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTRS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Northern Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.58.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $110.10 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.82. Northern Trust Co. has a 52 week low of $76.67 and a 52 week high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 30.67%.

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.