Intact Investment Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Intact Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 25.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 600 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 210 shares during the quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $62,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 118.4% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 249 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 528.3% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 377 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 83.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 494 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter worth $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NTRS. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays upped their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other news, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 58,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,585,448.83. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at $9,242,722. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northern Trust Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $97.88 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $107.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.16. Northern Trust Co. has a 12 month low of $79.32 and a 12 month high of $114.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. Northern Trust’s 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.