Moors & Cabot Inc. Increases Holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,560 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Northern Trust by 2.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 452,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,757,000 after purchasing an additional 10,202 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Northern Trust by 67.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,990 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $36,371,000 after buying an additional 162,623 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 17.1% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,133 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $192,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in Northern Trust by 4.8% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 13,527 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,218,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 34,598 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,949 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on NTRS. UBS Group upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on 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 raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.50.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total transaction of $100,296.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $851,401.60. The trade was a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value 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. The trade was a 4.44 % 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 valued at $3,970,211 over the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NTRS stock opened at $97.88 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $102.16. Northern Trust Co. has a 52 week low of $79.32 and a 52 week high of $114.67. The stock has a market cap of $19.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 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%. Analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.67%.

Northern Trust Company 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.