Sierra Summit Advisors LLC Grows Position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 28.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,160 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $734,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Northern Trust by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its stake in Northern Trust by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 4,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $119.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $104.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.31.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. This trade represents a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,242,722. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211. 0.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $86.01 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $16.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $105.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.17. Northern Trust Co. has a fifty-two week low of $78.12 and a fifty-two week high of $114.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

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.