Ballentine Partners LLC Sells 1,197 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Ballentine Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 31.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,574 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,197 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Northern Trust by 140.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,802,792 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $489,640,000 after purchasing an additional 3,387,002 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $105,665,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth $90,532,000. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,891,902 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $581,539,000 after buying an additional 394,855 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Northern Trust by 4,660.5% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 399,932 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,586,000 after acquiring an additional 391,531 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Teresa Parker sold 5,883 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $494,524.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 83,765 shares in the company, valued at $7,041,285.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Mark C. Gossett sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.90, for a total value of $533,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,552,052.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa Parker sold 5,883 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $494,524.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 83,765 shares in the company, valued at $7,041,285.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NTRS stock opened at $87.45 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $62.44 and a 1-year high of $92.46. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $86.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.92. The company has a market capitalization of $17.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.08.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The asset manager reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 10.53% and a return on equity of 12.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 53.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 7.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th 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 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $85.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Northern Trust from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Northern Trust from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.75.

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.