Blue Trust Inc. Sells 853 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Blue Trust Inc. lowered its stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 30.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,986 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 853 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $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 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 35,673 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,212,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In related news, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.67, for a total transaction of $252,042.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 58,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,585,448.83. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total value of $100,296.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $851,401.60. This represents a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,631 shares of company stock worth $4,550,459 over the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $113.75 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.08. Northern Trust Co. has a 12-month low of $78.75 and a 12-month high of $114.67. 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 (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Northern Trust from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.58.

Northern Trust 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.