Gries Financial LLC Buys Shares of 2,043 Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Gries Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,043 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. FMR LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,542,685 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 201.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 388,692 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 62.8% during 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 buying an additional 261,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 93,421.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 185,172 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $152,194,000 after acquiring an additional 184,974 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America upped their price target on Northern Trust from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In related news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.18, for a total value of $1,698,972.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,476.46. The trade was a 78.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total transaction of $1,010,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 47,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,305,467. The trade was a 15.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,253 shares of company stock worth $3,238,073 over the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $112.74 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $106.13 and its 200-day moving average is $97.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $22.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.08. Northern Trust Co. has a fifty-two week low of $76.67 and a fifty-two week high of $114.21.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 12.75%. Equities research analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 7.56 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 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.