Benjamin Edwards Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 9,445.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 78,365 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,544 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $7,055,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 343.9% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 435 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NTRS. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $84.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.18, for a total value of $1,698,972.54. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,397 shares in the company, valued at $462,476.46. The trade was a 78.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.80, for a total transaction of $529,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 49,756 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,184.80. This represents a 9.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,906 shares of company stock worth $7,643,252 in the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS stock opened at $109.89 on Tuesday. Northern Trust Co. has a 12 month low of $76.67 and a 12 month high of $111.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $100.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.82.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.31%.

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.