JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims Stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 31.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,963,203 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,333,239 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $303,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position 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 worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 4.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $624,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,585,448.83. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,242,722. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211 in the last 90 days. 0.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NTRS opened at $97.15 on Monday. Northern Trust Co. has a 52-week low of $79.32 and a 52-week high of $114.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $107.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $102.99. The company has a market cap of $19.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. 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 announced its quarterly 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%. On average, analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share 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 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on NTRS. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Northern Trust from $119.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. 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 report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.