Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 9,794 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. decreased its holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 486,626 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 9,794 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $41,062,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $134,901,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Northern Trust by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,014,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $178,287,000 after buying an additional 689,920 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Vance Management lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 1,080.5% in the first quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 600,908 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $69,974,000 after buying an additional 550,006 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Northern Trust by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,711,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,644,763,000 after acquiring an additional 457,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,415,790 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $167,849,000 after acquiring an additional 363,747 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on NTRS. Bank of America raised their target price on Northern Trust from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up previously from $82.00) on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. TheStreet upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.92.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $81.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $83.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.93. Northern Trust Co. has a 52 week low of $62.44 and a 52 week high of $89.25.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.81). Northern Trust had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 12.57%. The business had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northern Trust news, insider Steven L. Fradkin sold 30,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $2,434,703.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 55,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,462,687.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northern Trust 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.