Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Shares Sold by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 70.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,061 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,824 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 9.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,637,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,685 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,577,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $141,986,000 after buying an additional 16,500 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Northern Trust by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $129,909,000 after buying an additional 8,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 201.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,791,000 after acquiring an additional 644,261 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on NTRS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In related news, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total transaction of $251,828.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,918,883.88. The trade was a 11.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.67, for a total transaction of $252,042.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,585,448.83. The trade was a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have 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 company insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Northern Trust stock opened at $101.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Northern Trust Co. has a 12 month low of $79.32 and a 12 month high of $114.67. The company has a market cap of $19.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $107.35 and its 200-day moving average is $102.73.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. Equities analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

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.