Two Sigma Securities LLC Sells 8,310 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Two Sigma Securities LLC lowered its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 73.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,974 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 8,310 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC's holdings in Northern Trust were worth $305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,061 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,286,000 after acquiring an additional 4,374 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 388,692 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter worth $7,437,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Northern Trust by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,406 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $129,909,000 after purchasing an additional 8,102 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,242,722. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total value of $251,828.46. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,918,883.88. This trade represents a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,966 shares of company stock worth $781,976 over the last three months. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $110.83.

Northern Trust Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $94.94. The stock had a trading volume of 1,062,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,252,997. The company has a market capitalization of $18.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $96.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.77. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $79.68 and a 52 week high of $114.67.

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

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

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 $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Northern Trust's dividend 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.