Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases New Shares in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,823 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $289,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 9.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $386,809,000 after acquiring an additional 388,692 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in Northern Trust by 68.1% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,239,000 after buying an additional 5,578 shares in the last quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth $538,000. Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 59,118 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,322,000 after buying an additional 4,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 327.1% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 28,510 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,567,000 after acquiring an additional 21,835 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total value of $1,010,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 47,797 shares in the company, valued at $5,305,467. This trade represents a 15.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 a total of 30,253 shares of company stock valued at $3,238,073 in the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $110.92 on Friday. Northern Trust Co. has a twelve month low of $76.67 and a twelve month high of $111.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $21.99 billion, a PE ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50 day moving average is $105.89 and its 200 day moving average is $96.59.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 12.75%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 7.56 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid 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 2.70%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is currently 37.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NTRS shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.75.

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.