Johnson Financial Group Inc. Invests $450,000 in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $450,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in Northern Trust by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 4,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in Northern Trust by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Northern Trust from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.83.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NTRS opened at $91.59 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $17.92 billion, a PE ratio of 9.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. Northern Trust Co. has a 1 year low of $79.68 and a 1 year high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is presently 27.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total value of $100,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $851,401.60. The trade was a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total value of $2,936,191.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. This represents a 49.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by 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.