Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Shares Sold by Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. cut its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,761 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 122 shares during the quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $1,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 9.3% during 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. grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 9.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.1% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 16,500 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $129,909,000 after purchasing an additional 8,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 201.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,791,000 after purchasing an additional 644,261 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on NTRS. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered 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 issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total transaction of $100,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $851,401.60. This represents a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,242,722. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NTRS opened at $98.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. 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 1-year low of $79.32 and a 1-year high of $114.67. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $107.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $102.37.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. Research analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.