West Oak Capital LLC Decreases Stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

West Oak Capital LLC decreased its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,970 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $1,366,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Northern Trust by 84.5% during the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 393 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 93.4% in the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 408 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 64.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 496 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the second quarter worth about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Steven L. Fradkin sold 30,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $2,434,703.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,707 shares in the company, valued at $4,462,687.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $86.00 price target (up from $82.00) on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. TheStreet upgraded Northern Trust from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Northern Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.04.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NASDAQ NTRS traded up $1.03 on Thursday, hitting $88.78. The company had a trading volume of 140,595 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,539,708. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $81.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.16. The company has a market capitalization of $18.11 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.12. Northern Trust Co. has a 12-month low of $62.44 and a 12-month high of $90.59.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.81). The company had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 12.44% and a net margin of 9.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is currently 59.06%.

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.