Freestone Grove Partners LP Invests $437,000 in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,262 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $437,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 40,848 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,187,000 after acquiring an additional 4,375 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 556.1% during the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 32,208 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,301,000 after purchasing an additional 27,299 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 753,556 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $77,240,000 after purchasing an additional 177,881 shares in the last quarter. Global Frontier Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $3,075,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter worth $4,872,000. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In related news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the company'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 transaction of $429,852.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,242,722. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northern Trust from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $110.83.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:NTRS traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $100.52. The company had a trading volume of 696,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,257,446. Northern Trust Co. has a 1 year low of $79.68 and a 1 year high of $114.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $95.07 and a 200 day moving average of $102.85. The company has a market cap of $19.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.18.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. Sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.99%.

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.