First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Increases Position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,075 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 298 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in 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. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in Northern Trust by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,497,047 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $451,415,000 after buying an additional 264,805 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Northern Trust by 168.3% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 407,683 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,326,000 after buying an additional 255,740 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in Northern Trust by 194.3% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 306,194 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $21,274,000 after buying an additional 202,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 938.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 157,822 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,965,000 after acquiring an additional 142,624 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

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 value of $2,434,703.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 55,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,462,687.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Steven L. Fradkin sold 4,097 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.56, for a total value of $338,248.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,804,199.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven L. Fradkin sold 30,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $2,434,703.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 55,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,462,687.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NTRS stock opened at $85.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $84.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.36. The firm has a market cap of $17.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.13. Northern Trust Co. has a 1 year low of $62.44 and a 1 year high of $89.25.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is currently 66.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTRS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Northern Trust from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. TheStreet raised shares of Northern Trust from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.92.

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.