New York State Teachers Retirement System Acquires 13,006 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 221,263 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 13,006 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.11% of Northern Trust worth $18,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter worth $134,901,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,014,774 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $178,287,000 after acquiring an additional 689,920 shares during the last quarter. Eaton Vance Management increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1,080.5% in the first quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 600,908 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $69,974,000 after purchasing an additional 550,006 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,711,584 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,644,763,000 after purchasing an additional 457,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,415,790 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $167,849,000 after acquiring an additional 363,747 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other news, insider Steven L. Fradkin sold 30,392 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $2,434,703.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 55,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,462,687.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Northern Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $99.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $72.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Northern Trust from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $84.21.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NTRS traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $88.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 762,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,515,098. The business's 50-day moving average price is $82.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.30. Northern Trust Co. has a 12 month low of $62.44 and a 12 month high of $90.59. The stock has a market cap of $17.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 18th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.81). The company had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 12.44% and a net margin of 9.14%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.06%.

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.