Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Stock Holdings Boosted by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 105 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,637,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,685 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Northern Trust by 9.9% in the third 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. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 55.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 597,146 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $49,575,000 after acquiring an additional 212,089 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 93,421.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 185,172 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $152,194,000 after acquiring an additional 184,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 67.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,990 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $36,371,000 after purchasing an additional 162,623 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Northern Trust from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Northern Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.75.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other news, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total value of $1,010,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 47,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,305,467. This represents a 15.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.18, for a total transaction of $1,698,972.54. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,476.46. This trade represents a 78.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,253 shares of company stock worth $3,238,073. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $110.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Northern Trust Co. has a one year low of $76.67 and a one year high of $111.87. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $105.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.59. The company has a market capitalization of $21.99 billion, a PE ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.08.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 10.92%. As a group, analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.31%.

Northern Trust 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.