Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Shares Bought by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV grew its stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 201.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 644,261 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $98,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in 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 Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Northern Trust in the third quarter valued at $51,000. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.18, for a total value of $1,698,972.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,476.46. The trade was a 78.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total value of $1,010,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 47,797 shares in the company, valued at $5,305,467. This trade represents a 15.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 30,253 shares of company stock worth $3,238,073. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NTRS. Barclays raised their price target on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.75.

Northern Trust Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $110.92 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $105.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.68. The company has a market capitalization of $21.99 billion, a PE ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.08. Northern Trust Co. has a 12-month low of $76.67 and a 12-month high of $111.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted 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 return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 10.92%. Equities analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 7.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is currently 37.31%.

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.