Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 158,627 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,500 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.08% of Northern Trust worth $16,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 118.4% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 249 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at $9,242,722. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were 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. This represents a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 44,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,980,311 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on NTRS. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.58.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $112.97 on Monday. Northern Trust Co. has a 12-month low of $79.30 and a 12-month high of $114.67. The firm has a market cap of $22.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50-day moving average is $107.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. Research analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

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.