C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. Acquires Shares of 1,364 Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,364 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $140,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its position in Northern Trust by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 4,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on NTRS shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.46.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.67, for a total transaction of $252,042.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 58,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,585,448.83. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $429,852.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,242,722. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211 in the last 90 days. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $97.15 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.68. Northern Trust Co. has a 1 year low of $79.32 and a 1 year high of $114.67. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.99.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) 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, sell-side analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

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.