Insider Selling: Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) EVP Sells $251,828.46 in Stock

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total value of $251,828.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,918,883.88. This trade represents a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $113.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Northern Trust Co. has a 52-week low of $76.67 and a 52-week high of $114.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $106.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.05.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 30.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Trust

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 9.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,637,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,685 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 644,261 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 62.8% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 678,461 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $69,542,000 after acquiring an additional 261,797 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Northern Trust by 93,421.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 185,172 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $152,194,000 after purchasing an additional 184,974 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Northern Trust from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.58.

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.