Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes $51,000 Position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 51,250 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $51,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 4.4% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Northern Trust by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,061 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Northern Trust by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 68.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,239,000 after purchasing an additional 5,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $1,059,000. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on NTRS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.50.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $96.09 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $79.30 and a 1-year high of $114.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.00.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the business’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 owns 17,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,918,883.88. The trade was a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.67, for a total value of $252,042.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,449 shares in the company, valued at $6,585,448.83. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211 over the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.