Ethic Inc. Acquires 11,871 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Ethic Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 50.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 35,420 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,871 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $3,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC grew 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 worth $432,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in 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 in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.8% in 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 raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 2.4% in 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 lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 51.2% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity 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 stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $429,852.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,242,722. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $100.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $94.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.88. Northern Trust Co. has a one year low of $79.68 and a one year high of $114.67. 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 (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. Equities analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on NTRS. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Northern Trust from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.83.

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.