Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Shares Bought by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 43.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 142,069 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 43,131 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $14,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,582 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,213,000 after buying an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 17,687 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 3,894 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 8.4% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,807 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 0.4% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 43,871 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,941,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.58.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $112.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $22.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.54, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.08. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $79.30 and a twelve month high of $114.67. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.51.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,242,722. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total transaction of $1,010,100.00. Following 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 quarter, insiders have sold 44,435 shares of company stock worth $4,980,311. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Company 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.