O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 175.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 93,391 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 59,530 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $9,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC increased its holdings 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 increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 4.4% in the fourth 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 lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 1.8% in 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 boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 2.4% during 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 grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NTRS. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.46.

Northern Trust Trading Up 1.5 %

NTRS opened at $98.65 on Tuesday. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $106.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.07. Northern Trust Co. has a one year low of $79.32 and a one year high of $114.67. The stock has a market cap of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS 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 paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.67%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $851,401.60. The trade was a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 58,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,585,448.83. The trade was a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211 in the last 90 days. 0.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.