Heartland Advisors Inc. Sells 9,998 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Heartland Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 174,093 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 9,998 shares during the period. Northern Trust comprises 1.0% of Heartland Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $17,845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in Northern Trust by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,061 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 9.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $386,809,000 after acquiring an additional 388,692 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,239,000 after purchasing an additional 5,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 0.6% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total value of $2,936,191.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 26,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,987,202.96. The trade was a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,242,722. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reduced 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. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.85.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $100.55 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $19.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. Northern Trust Co. has a 12-month low of $79.32 and a 12-month high of $114.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $107.23 and a 200 day moving average of $102.71.

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 the consensus estimate 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, research 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 paid 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 2.98%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.67%.

Northern Trust 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.