Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Shares Purchased by Boston Trust Walden Corp

Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 928,854 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 14,362 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned about 0.47% of Northern Trust worth $95,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NTRS. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in Northern Trust by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other news, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total transaction of $251,828.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,918,883.88. This trade represents a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total transaction of $1,010,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 47,797 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,305,467. This trade represents a 15.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 40,631 shares of company stock worth $4,550,459. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRS has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.58.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:NTRS traded up $0.58 on Thursday, hitting $113.80. 842,242 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,185,277. The stock has a market cap of $22.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.08. Northern Trust Co. has a fifty-two week low of $76.67 and a fifty-two week high of $114.21. 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 fifty day moving average of $106.33 and a 200-day moving average of $98.05.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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, equities analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

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.