Virtu Financial LLC Reduces Holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Virtu Financial LLC reduced its position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 44.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,265 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 9.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,637,435,000 after buying an additional 1,542,685 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Northern Trust by 9.9% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,577,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $141,986,000 after purchasing an additional 16,500 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Northern Trust by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $129,909,000 after purchasing an additional 8,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Northern Trust by 201.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,791,000 after purchasing an additional 644,261 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,242,722. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total value of $251,828.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,883.88. The trade was a 11.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NTRS. StockNews.com lowered Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” 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 company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.85.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $101.44 on Thursday. Northern Trust Co. has a 12 month low of $79.32 and a 12 month high of $114.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, equities analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.96%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.