Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys 118,544 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 49.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 359,304 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 118,544 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Northern Trust were worth $36,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its stake 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 528.3% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 377 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 83.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 494 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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 equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $9,242,722. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total value of $2,936,191.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 26,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. This represents a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211 in the last ninety days. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $98.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. Northern Trust Co. has a 12-month low of $79.32 and a 12-month high of $114.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $107.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 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.