Bridgewater Associates LP Raises Stock Holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 294.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,648 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 13,918 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $1,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,637,435,000 after buying an additional 1,542,685 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 13.0% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,413,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $622,596,000 after acquiring an additional 850,556 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 4,660.5% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 399,932 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,586,000 after purchasing an additional 391,531 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in Northern Trust by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,046,757 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $591,787,000 after purchasing an additional 261,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,003,675 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $168,253,000 after purchasing an additional 219,387 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northern Trust news, insider Teresa Parker sold 4,439 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.86, for a total value of $447,717.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 79,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,000,820.36. This trade represents a 5.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.12, for a total value of $163,462.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,120. This trade represents a 64.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,906 shares of company stock valued at $7,643,252 over the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $111.16 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a PE ratio of 13.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.65. Northern Trust Co. has a 12-month low of $76.67 and a 12-month high of $111.87.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.67.

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.