Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Shares Purchased by Covestor Ltd

Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 222.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,448 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 999 shares during the quarter. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its position in Northern Trust by 118.4% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 249 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 528.3% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 377 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on NTRS. Citigroup dropped their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $104.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total value of $100,296.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $851,401.60. This trade represents a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

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. The company has a market cap of $17.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $102.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $102.84. Northern Trust Co. has a 1-year low of $79.32 and a 1-year high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s 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.