HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Sells 505 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC decreased its position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,892 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 505 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its position in Northern Trust by 118.4% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 249 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 528.3% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 377 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total value of $2,936,191.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,987,202.96. The trade was a 49.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.67, for a total transaction of $252,042.79. Following the sale, the insider now 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 quarter, insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $98.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. Northern Trust Co. has a 52-week low of $79.32 and a 52-week high of $114.67. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.11.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. Research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NTRS shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $104.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $119.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.69.

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.