Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Shares Sold by Cutler Investment Counsel LLC

Cutler Investment Counsel LLC reduced its holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 59,670 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 181 shares during the quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $5,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 2.4% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,921 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $715,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 26.4% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 12,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,512,000 after acquiring an additional 2,716 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the first quarter worth $548,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,711,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,644,763,000 after acquiring an additional 457,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 271.7% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 918 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, insider Steven L. Fradkin sold 30,392 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $2,434,703.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,462,687.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NTRS stock traded up $0.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $81.87. 1,071,247 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,505,847. Northern Trust Co. has a twelve month low of $62.44 and a twelve month high of $89.25. The company has a market capitalization of $16.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 18th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.81). The company had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 12.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 66.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on NTRS shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Northern Trust from $72.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $86.00 price objective (up from $82.00) on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Northern Trust from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.92.

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.