Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Shares Bought by Atria Investments Inc

Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,385 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $347,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Northern Trust by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,061 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings 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 valued at $386,809,000 after buying an additional 388,692 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in Northern Trust by 68.1% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,239,000 after buying an additional 5,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $1,059,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $429,852.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at $9,242,722. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211 over the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northern Trust Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $97.88 on Monday. Northern Trust Co. has a 52 week low of $79.32 and a 52 week high of $114.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $107.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $102.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.15 billion, a PE ratio of 10.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on NTRS shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.50.

Northern Trust 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.