Cerity Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 451.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 555,631 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 454,956 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned about 0.28% of Northern Trust worth $56,866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $83,550,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 201.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $42,715,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Northern Trust by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 62.8% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 678,461 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $69,542,000 after purchasing an additional 261,797 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $116.00 to $98.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.31.

Northern Trust Stock Down 0.6 %

NTRS stock opened at $85.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.68. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $105.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.12. Northern Trust Co. has a fifty-two week low of $79.32 and a fifty-two week high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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, analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 30.67%.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In related news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total value of $251,828.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,883.88. This represents a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211 in the last ninety days. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.