32,687 Shares in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Bought by Empirical Asset Management LLC

Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 32,687 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Northern Trust in the third quarter worth $48,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the third quarter worth $51,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $68,000. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 27,874 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.50, for a total transaction of $2,801,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,078 shares in the company, valued at $4,630,839. This trade represents a 37.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.80, for a total value of $529,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 49,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,264,184.80. This trade represents a 9.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 82,151 shares of company stock valued at $8,489,889. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.17.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $106.87 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.08. Northern Trust Co. has a 52 week low of $76.67 and a 52 week high of $111.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $105.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 37.31%.

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.