Ariel Investments LLC Sells 298,652 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Ariel Investments LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,228,815 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 298,652 shares during the period. Northern Trust comprises 2.4% of Ariel Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Ariel Investments LLC owned approximately 1.12% of Northern Trust worth $228,454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $83,550,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 201.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,791,000 after purchasing an additional 644,261 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 451.9% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 555,631 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $56,866,000 after purchasing an additional 454,956 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $42,715,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Trading Up 2.7 %

NTRS opened at $97.52 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.79. Northern Trust Co. has a fifty-two week low of $79.68 and a fifty-two week high of $114.67. The company has a market cap of $19.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is currently 27.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $429,852.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,242,722. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total value of $251,828.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,918,883.88. This represents a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,966 shares of company stock valued at $781,976 in the last ninety days. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on NTRS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Northern Trust from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.83.

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.