Bank of Nova Scotia Purchases 84,394 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 227.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 121,575 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 84,394 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.06% of Northern Trust worth $12,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 stake in Northern Trust by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,061 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,286,000 after buying an additional 4,374 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Northern Trust by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,406 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $129,909,000 after purchasing an additional 8,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,437,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on NTRS. UBS Group boosted 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. Barclays upped their price target on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $104.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Northern Trust from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.31.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Northern Trust stock traded down $0.88 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $88.39. The stock had a trading volume of 360,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,257,695. The stock's 50 day moving average is $101.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.83. Northern Trust Co. has a 1 year low of $79.32 and a 1 year high of $114.67. The stock has a market cap of $17.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. 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 (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. As a group, analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In related news, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total transaction of $100,296.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,640 shares in the company, valued at $851,401.60. This trade represents a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.67, for a total value of $252,042.79. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 58,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,585,448.83. This trade represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211. 0.77% of the stock is owned by 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.