Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Buys 261,797 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 62.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 678,461 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 261,797 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned about 0.34% of Northern Trust worth $69,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 9.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,637,435,000 after buying an additional 1,542,685 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 201.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $98,791,000 after purchasing an additional 644,261 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake 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 valued at $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 93,421.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 185,172 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $152,194,000 after buying an additional 184,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 67.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,990 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $36,371,000 after buying an additional 162,623 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on NTRS. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on 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. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Northern Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.58.

Northern Trust Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NTRS traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $112.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 941,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,217,657. Northern Trust Co. has a 1 year low of $76.67 and a 1 year high of $114.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $22.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $106.13 and a 200 day moving average of $97.20.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 12.75%. As a group, analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 47,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,305,467. The trade was a 15.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.18, for a total value of $1,698,972.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,397 shares of the company's stock, 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 30,253 shares of company stock valued at $3,238,073 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

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.