State of Alaska Department of Revenue Cuts Position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lessened its stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 31.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,601 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 10,217 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $2,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Northern Trust by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in Northern Trust by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Northern Trust by 1.8% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Northern Trust by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 35,673 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,212,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.58.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other news, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total transaction of $1,010,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 47,797 shares in the company, valued at $5,305,467. This trade represents a 15.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total transaction of $100,296.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,640 shares in the company, valued at $851,401.60. This represents a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,631 shares of company stock worth $4,550,459. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NTRS opened at $111.00 on Tuesday. Northern Trust Co. has a 1 year low of $76.67 and a 1 year high of $114.67. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $106.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.00 billion, a PE ratio of 11.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted 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 net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.2 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio 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.