Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stock Holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 43.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 142,069 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 43,131 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.07% of Northern Trust worth $14,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. FMR LLC increased its position in Northern Trust by 9.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,637,435,000 after buying an additional 1,542,685 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its position in Northern Trust by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,085,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $637,873,000 after acquiring an additional 38,360 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Northern Trust by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $386,809,000 after acquiring an additional 388,692 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,577,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $141,986,000 after purchasing an additional 16,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 201.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,791,000 after purchasing an additional 644,261 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northern Trust Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $112.82 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $107.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.51. Northern Trust Co. has a fifty-two week low of $79.30 and a fifty-two week high of $114.67. The firm has a market cap of $22.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.08. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. Analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.58.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the business’s 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. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total value of $1,010,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 47,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,305,467. This represents a 15.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 44,435 shares of company stock worth $4,980,311 in the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.