R Squared Ltd Purchases Shares of 798 Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 798 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $82,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Northern Trust by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 15,855 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. 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 buying an additional 644,261 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,015 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 8,028 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its position in Northern Trust by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS stock opened at $112.29 on Friday. Northern Trust Co. has a 12 month low of $76.67 and a 12 month high of $114.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.48, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $106.20 and its 200 day moving average is $97.31.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 30.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NTRS. Bank of America raised their target price on Northern Trust from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.58.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total transaction of $2,936,191.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 26,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. This trade represents a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total value of $1,010,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 47,797 shares in the company, valued at $5,305,467. This represents a 15.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,622 shares of company stock worth $6,426,307. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.