Quantessence Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 3,117 Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Quantessence Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,117 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $319,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $83,550,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 201.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $98,791,000 after buying an additional 644,261 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 451.9% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 555,631 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $56,866,000 after buying an additional 454,956 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,715,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position 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 valued at $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment 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, Northern Trust currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $110.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,242,722. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.67, for a total transaction of $252,042.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,585,448.83. This trade represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTRS traded up $0.43 on Monday, hitting $92.02. 223,106 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,247,609. The business's fifty day moving average is $97.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.89. Northern Trust Co. has a 12 month low of $79.68 and a 12 month high of $114.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Northern Trust's payout ratio is currently 27.99%.

Northern Trust Company Profile

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.