Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Decreases Stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 93,346 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 910 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $9,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC raised its stake in Northern Trust by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in Northern Trust by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $624,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its position in Northern Trust by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 4,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.67, for a total value of $252,042.79. Following the sale, the insider now owns 58,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,585,448.83. The trade was a 3.69 % decrease in their position. 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 that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,918,883.88. This represents a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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 insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Down 3.4 %

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $97.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Northern Trust Co. has a 12 month low of $79.32 and a 12 month high of $114.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $107.04 and its 200 day moving average is $102.88. The stock has a market cap of $19.01 billion, a PE ratio of 9.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued 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%. Research analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NTRS shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Northern Trust from $119.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.46.

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.