Mather Group LLC. Lowers Position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Mather Group LLC. reduced its position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,834 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 261 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $291,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Northern Trust in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 51.2% during the 4th 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. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total value of $100,296.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,640 shares in the company, valued at $851,401.60. This trade represents a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 47,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 a total of 40,631 shares of company stock valued at $4,550,459 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NTRS stock opened at $113.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $76.67 and a 52-week high of $114.21. 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 (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.2 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRS has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.58.

Northern Trust 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.