Davis R M Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Davis R M Inc. lowered its position in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 45.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,588 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 19,517 shares during the quarter. Davis R M Inc.'s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $1,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,533,855 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $551,327,000 after buying an additional 1,553,783 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $90,532,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Northern Trust by 17.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,415,790 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $167,849,000 after purchasing an additional 363,747 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its position in Northern Trust by 4.2% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,497,047 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $451,415,000 after purchasing an additional 264,805 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 168.3% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 407,683 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,326,000 after acquiring an additional 255,740 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on NTRS shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $86.00 target price (up previously from $82.00) on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $84.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Steven L. Fradkin sold 30,392 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 55,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,462,687.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Northern Trust news, insider Steven L. Fradkin sold 30,392 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 55,707 shares in the company, valued at $4,462,687.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Peter Cherecwich sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.09, for a total value of $1,045,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,471 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,740,809.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,489 shares of company stock worth $3,818,031. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Down 0.8 %

NTRS stock traded down $0.70 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $83.90. 913,121 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,414,107. The firm's 50 day moving average is $84.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. Northern Trust Co. has a 1 year low of $62.44 and a 1 year high of $89.25.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The asset manager reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.23. Northern Trust had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 12.57%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.79 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Northern Trust's payout ratio is currently 66.23%.

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.