Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,527,609 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 191,083 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.36% of Northern Trust worth $2,309,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $506,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 83.5% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 45,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,631,000 after purchasing an additional 20,564 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $7,437,000. Marietta Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $202,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 18,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,926,000 after purchasing an additional 5,712 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $429,852.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,242,722. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.67, for a total transaction of $252,042.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $101.44 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $107.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $102.73. The stock has a market cap of $19.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Northern Trust Co. has a one year low of $79.32 and a one year high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on NTRS. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.85.

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.