Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Shares Purchased by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 22.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 194,416 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,941 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.10% of Northern Trust worth $19,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,532,401 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $259,571,000 after buying an additional 39,592 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $129,909,000 after acquiring an additional 8,102 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 201.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,791,000 after acquiring an additional 644,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 928,854 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $95,208,000 after acquiring an additional 14,362 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total transaction of $251,828.46. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,918,883.88. This represents a 11.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,585,448.83. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NTRS. StockNews.com lowered Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $104.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.31.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $86.01 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $105.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.68. Northern Trust Co. has a 52 week low of $78.12 and a 52 week high of $114.67. The firm has a market cap of $16.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.