Ossiam Increases Stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Ossiam raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 769.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 111,996 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 99,109 shares during the quarter. Ossiam’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $11,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Northern Trust by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,486,616 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $767,378,000 after purchasing an additional 92,162 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,904,871 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $501,444,000 after buying an additional 30,908 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $386,809,000 after acquiring an additional 388,692 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,885,312 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $295,744,000 after acquiring an additional 202,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Northern Trust by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,532,401 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $259,571,000 after acquiring an additional 39,592 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $88.29 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 $79.68 and a 1-year high of $114.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.28 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total transaction of $251,828.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,918,883.88. The trade was a 11.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 stock was 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 owns 58,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,585,448.83. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price 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. Bank of America decreased their price target on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Northern Trust from $119.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Northern Trust from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.08.

Northern Trust Company 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.