Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Buys Shares of 2,064 Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,064 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in 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. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,061 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 9.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $386,809,000 after buying an additional 388,692 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased 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 worth $1,239,000 after buying an additional 5,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Northern Trust by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $129,909,000 after buying an additional 8,102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Trading Down 3.4 %

Northern Trust stock opened at $97.15 on Friday. 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 $79.32 and a 12-month high of $114.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $107.04 and a 200 day moving average of $102.78.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total transaction of $2,936,191.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,586 shares in the company, valued at $2,987,202.96. This trade represents a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NTRS. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.46.

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.