Marshall Wace LLP Lowers Position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Marshall Wace LLP lowered its stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 57.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 119,397 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 161,996 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.06% of Northern Trust worth $12,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $667,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Northern Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $228,000. Synovus Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $229,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 684 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $429,852.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at $9,242,722. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total value of $2,936,191.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 26,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. The trade was a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NTRS stock traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $91.59. 1,171,120 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,251,665. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Northern Trust Co. has a 12 month low of $79.68 and a 12 month high of $114.67. The stock has a market cap of $17.92 billion, a PE ratio of 9.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $97.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.89.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.95 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NTRS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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, StockNews.com cut shares of Northern Trust from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.