Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Holdings Raised by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 118.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 58,357 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,583 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $5,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NTRS. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its position in Northern Trust by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 4,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in Northern Trust by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $98.28 on Wednesday. Northern Trust Co. has a 12 month low of $79.32 and a 12 month high of $114.67. The company has a market cap of $19.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average is $107.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, equities analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is presently 30.67%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,585,448.83. This trade represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total transaction of $2,936,191.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,586 shares in the company, valued at $2,987,202.96. This trade represents a 49.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.50.

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.