Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 234,243 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,694 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $21,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Northern Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Northern Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $84.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.00.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Northern Trust stock opened at $103.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. Northern Trust Co. has a one year low of $76.67 and a one year high of $111.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $104.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.54 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.07.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.31%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.80, for a total transaction of $529,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 49,756 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,184.80. This trade represents a 9.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 27,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.50, for a total value of $2,801,337.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,078 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,630,839. This trade represents a 37.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 82,151 shares of company stock valued at $8,489,889. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

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.