Agate Pass Investment Management LLC Invests $538,000 in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Agate Pass Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 5,245 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $538,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Northern Trust during the third quarter worth about $48,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Northern Trust during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $68,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 684 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total value of $1,010,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.18, for a total transaction of $1,698,972.54. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,476.46. The trade was a 78.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 82,151 shares of company stock valued at $8,489,889. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:NTRS traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $99.09. The company had a trading volume of 382,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 931,940. Northern Trust Co. has a 12-month low of $76.67 and a 12-month high of $111.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.17.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is presently 37.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NTRS shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $84.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.17.

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.