Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 22,058 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,309,825 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 22,058 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Northern Trust were worth $134,257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its stake in Northern Trust by 118.4% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 249 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Northern Trust by 528.3% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 377 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.50.

Northern Trust Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $98.68 on Tuesday. Northern Trust Co. has a twelve month low of $79.32 and a twelve month high of $114.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $107.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.32.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its 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%. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 30.67%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 58,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,585,448.83. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total transaction of $2,936,191.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. This trade represents a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

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.