Caprock Group LLC Acquires Shares of 10,263 Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,263 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,059,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NTRS. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,637,435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,542,685 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 201.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $98,791,000 after purchasing an additional 644,261 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew 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 purchasing an additional 388,692 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Northern Trust by 62.8% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 678,461 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $69,542,000 after buying an additional 261,797 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Northern Trust by 93,421.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 185,172 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $152,194,000 after buying an additional 184,974 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.80, for a total value of $529,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 49,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,264,184.80. This trade represents a 9.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,476.46. This trade represents a 78.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 60,884 shares of company stock worth $6,678,135 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Northern Trust stock traded up $1.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $112.59. 238,549 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,157,146. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.95. The firm has a market cap of $22.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Northern Trust Co. has a 12 month low of $76.67 and a 12 month high of $114.21.

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 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, equities research analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on NTRS shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.58.

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.