Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Acquires New Stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 6,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $646,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,061 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,286,000 after buying an additional 4,374 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 388,692 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 68.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,239,000 after buying an additional 5,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $1,059,000. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $113.53 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $106.92 and a 200 day moving average of $99.76. Northern Trust Co. has a 12 month low of $78.96 and a 12 month high of $114.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.08. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total value of $100,296.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $851,401.60. This trade represents a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at $9,242,722. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,980,311 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTRS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Northern Trust from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.58.

Northern Trust Profile

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.