Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 556 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Securian Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,595 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 556 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $1,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Northern Trust by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,061 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 9.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $386,809,000 after buying an additional 388,692 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 68.1% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,239,000 after buying an additional 5,578 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter worth $1,059,000. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on NTRS. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.50.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS stock opened at $97.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business has a fifty day moving average of $107.74 and a 200 day moving average of $102.06. Northern Trust Co. has a 1 year low of $79.32 and a 1 year high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total transaction of $251,828.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,918,883.88. This trade represents a 11.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at $9,242,722. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

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.