Public Sector Pension Investment Board Boosts Stock Position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 1.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 35,191 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $3,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised 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 valued at $1,637,435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,542,685 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,413,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $622,596,000 after buying an additional 850,556 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 4,660.5% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 399,932 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,586,000 after buying an additional 391,531 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 3.9% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,046,757 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $591,787,000 after buying an additional 261,285 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 12.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,003,675 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $168,253,000 after acquiring an additional 219,387 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NTRS shares. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.00.

Insider Activity

In other Northern Trust news, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total value of $1,010,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 47,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,305,467. This trade represents a 15.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 5,000 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.80, for a total transaction of $529,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 49,756 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,184.80. This represents a 9.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 84,006 shares of company stock worth $8,653,352 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $109.34 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $100.46 and a 200 day moving average of $90.98. The company has a market capitalization of $21.67 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Northern Trust Co. has a 1 year low of $76.67 and a 1 year high of $111.87.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.31%.

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.