B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Has $1.85 Million Stock Position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG trimmed its holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 21.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,072 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 4,926 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Northern Trust were worth $1,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $140,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 128,396 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $13,161,000 after buying an additional 28,615 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,532,401 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $259,571,000 after acquiring an additional 39,592 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 175.8% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 93,391 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $9,573,000 after purchasing an additional 59,530 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Northern Trust by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 14,118 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on NTRS shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $119.00 to $118.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Northern Trust from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.31.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total transaction of $251,828.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,918,883.88. The trade was a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total value of $100,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,640 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $851,401.60. The trade was a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust Trading Down 1.4 %

Northern Trust stock traded down $1.21 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $84.80. The stock had a trading volume of 635,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,238,652. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $16.60 billion, a PE ratio of 8.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.17. Northern Trust Co. has a 12 month low of $78.12 and a 12 month high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.