Centiva Capital LP Buys Shares of 6,094 Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 6,094 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $625,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $2,358,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 13,487 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 54,765 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,613,000 after buying an additional 8,428 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,183 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 896 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.4%

NTRS traded up $0.45 during trading on Thursday, hitting $106.84. 335,562 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,271,839. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.97. The firm has a market cap of $20.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.18. Northern Trust Co. has a 1 year low of $79.68 and a 1 year high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th 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 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.95, for a total transaction of $329,835.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,872,163.20. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the firm's 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 owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,242,722. This trade represents a 4.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,571 shares of company stock worth $1,410,397 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NTRS. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $110.83.

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.