Erste Asset Management GmbH Purchases 7,900 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 72,800 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 7,900 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $7,559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 118.4% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 249 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 528.3% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 377 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northern Trust Stock Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $96.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.00. 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 $79.30 and a 52-week high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NTRS. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $429,852.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,242,722. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the company’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 value of $2,936,191.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

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.