Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Sells 1,180 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,484 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,180 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in Northern Trust by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,061 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake 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. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in Northern Trust by 68.1% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,239,000 after buying an additional 5,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 8,102 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS stock opened at $100.55 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $107.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.71. Northern Trust Co. has a 12 month low of $79.32 and a 12 month high of $114.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.28, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. Equities research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of Northern Trust 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,918,883.88. The trade was a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total transaction of $100,296.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $851,401.60. This represents a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on NTRS shares. Truist Financial increased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.85.

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.