Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 582 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 16,704 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 582 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust accounts for 0.6% of Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $1,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NTRS. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 1.8% during 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 during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $97.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.01 billion, a PE ratio of 9.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $107.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.68. Northern Trust Co. has a 52-week low of $79.32 and a 52-week high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS 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. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.09%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTRS has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped 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. StockNews.com cut Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.46.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In related news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,242,722. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. This represents a 49.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211 in the last 90 days. 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.