Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Stock Position Cut by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI trimmed its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 92,826 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 10,248 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $9,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 194,416 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $19,928,000 after buying an additional 35,941 shares during the period. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new stake in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $140,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 128,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,161,000 after acquiring an additional 28,615 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,532,401 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $259,571,000 after acquiring an additional 39,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 175.8% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 93,391 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,573,000 after purchasing an additional 59,530 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northern Trust Trading Down 5.0 %

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $86.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.83 billion, a PE ratio of 8.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. Northern Trust Co. has a fifty-two week low of $79.32 and a fifty-two week 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $105.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.08.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 30.67%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total transaction of $2,936,191.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,987,202.96. This trade represents a 49.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,242,722. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211. Insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on NTRS. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Northern Trust from $119.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on Northern Trust from $116.00 to $98.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.31.

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.