Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Buys 6,307 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,521 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 6,307 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $9,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NTRS. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position in Northern Trust by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,212 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $432,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Northern Trust by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,091 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $624,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 4,774 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

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Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $101.44. 958,006 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,278,081. 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $107.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.74. The company has a market cap of $19.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. Northern Trust Co. has a 12-month low of $79.32 and a 12-month high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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, research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given 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 yield of 2.96%. Northern Trust's payout ratio is 30.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northern Trust from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on 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, UBS Group raised their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total transaction of $2,936,191.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. This trade represents a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,918,883.88. This trade represents a 11.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust Company 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.