25,025 Shares in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Bought by Sciencast Management LP

Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 25,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,565,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 9.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,637,435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,542,685 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 201.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,791,000 after purchasing an additional 644,261 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 388,692 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Northern Trust by 62.8% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 678,461 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $69,542,000 after buying an additional 261,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Northern Trust by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 359,304 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $36,829,000 after buying an additional 118,544 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the company’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 directly owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at $9,242,722. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total value of $2,936,191.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 have sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.50.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NTRS stock opened at $98.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Northern Trust Co. has a 1 year low of $79.32 and a 1 year high of $114.67. The company has a market cap of $19.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $107.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.37.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

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.