Welch & Forbes LLC Sells 375 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Welch & Forbes LLC cut its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,380 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 375 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 118.4% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 249 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in Northern Trust by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 528.3% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 377 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $429,852.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,242,722. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total value of $251,828.46. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,918,883.88. The trade was a 11.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211 over the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $104.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. Northern Trust Co. has a twelve month low of $79.30 and a twelve month high of $114.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $108.20 and a 200 day moving average of $101.80.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is presently 30.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.50.

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.