Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Grows Stock Holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,183 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 896 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its holdings in shares of 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 increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NTRS shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.83.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $429,852.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at $9,242,722. This trade represents a 4.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $100.59 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Northern Trust Co. has a 12 month low of $79.68 and a 12 month high of $114.67. The company has a market cap of $19.57 billion, a PE ratio of 10.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.88.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. Research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.99%.

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.