Candriam S.C.A. Reduces Holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Candriam S.C.A. decreased its position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 27,690 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,412 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $2,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 9.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,637,435,000 after buying an additional 1,542,685 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 201.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,791,000 after buying an additional 644,261 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Northern Trust by 9.9% in the third 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 period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in Northern Trust by 62.8% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 678,461 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $69,542,000 after purchasing an additional 261,797 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Northern Trust by 67.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,990 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $36,371,000 after purchasing an additional 162,623 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NTRS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In related news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,242,722. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 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 represents a 49.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211 in the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NTRS opened at $104.32 on Monday. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $108.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.91. Northern Trust Co. has a 1-year low of $79.30 and a 1-year high of $114.67. The stock has a market cap of $20.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. Equities analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.67%.

Northern Trust Company 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.