Northern Trust Corp Boosts Holdings in Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX)

Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX - Free Report) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 498,929 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 43,546 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.56% of Minerals Technologies worth $38,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 166,647 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $12,700,000 after buying an additional 4,356 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 9.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 115,887 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $8,950,000 after buying an additional 10,284 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 21.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 47,847 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,728,000 after buying an additional 8,335 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in Minerals Technologies by 74.4% in the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 17,264 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,316,000 after buying an additional 7,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Minerals Technologies by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 37,770 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,878,000 after acquiring an additional 4,402 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kristina M. Johnson bought 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $53.79 per share, for a total transaction of $53,790.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $75,306. The trade was a 250.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MTX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Minerals Technologies from $92.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Minerals Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th.

Minerals Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:MTX traded up $0.48 on Thursday, reaching $58.48. 45,933 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 184,397. The firm has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.43. Minerals Technologies Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.54 and a 52 week high of $90.30.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.02). Minerals Technologies had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 11.49%. The firm had revenue of $491.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $502.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. Minerals Technologies's revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Minerals Technologies Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Minerals Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Minerals Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently -57.14%.

About Minerals Technologies

Minerals Technologies Inc develops, produces, and markets various mineral, mineral-based, and related systems and services. The company operates through two segments, Consumer & Specialties, and Engineered Solutions segments. The Consumer & Specialties segment offers household and personal care products, such as pet litter, personal care, fabric care, edible oil and other fluid purification, animal health, and agricultural products; and specialty additives products, including precipitated calcium carbonate and ground calcium carbonate products that are used in the paper, paperboard, and fiber based packaging industries, as well as automotive, construction, and table and food applications.