Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 29.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,063 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,691 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 118.4% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 249 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 51.2% during 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 during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total value of $2,936,191.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,586 shares in the company, valued at $2,987,202.96. The trade was a 49.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.67, for a total transaction of $252,042.79. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211 over the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $104.32 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. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.69. Northern Trust Co. has a fifty-two week low of $79.30 and a fifty-two week high of $114.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.42 billion, a PE ratio of 10.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. Sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

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.