Erste Asset Management GmbH Buys 7,900 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,800 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,900 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $7,559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $1,356,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 83.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 494 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 32,891 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,371,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 58,357 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,982,000 after purchasing an additional 31,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,560 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Northern Trust stock opened at $96.09 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.00. Northern Trust Co. has a one year low of $79.30 and a one year high of $114.67. The company has a market capitalization of $18.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. 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 (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 30.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTRS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.50.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total transaction of $100,296.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $851,401.60. This represents a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the business’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 directly owns 26,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. This represents a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

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.