Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Acquires 6,307 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 89,521 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,307 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $9,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NTRS. GM Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth $298,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth $165,000. Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 432.1% during the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 87,159 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,955,000 after purchasing an additional 70,780 shares during the period. GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth $315,000. Finally, Glenview Trust co purchased a new position in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth $237,000. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on NTRS. UBS Group raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.50.

Northern Trust Stock Down 0.1 %

Northern Trust stock opened at $98.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. Northern Trust Co. has a 1-year low of $79.32 and a 1-year high of $114.67. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $107.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $102.46.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. Equities research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,918,883.88. The trade was a 11.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,242,722. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Company 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.