Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stock Position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 30.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 107,921 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,397 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.05% of Northern Trust worth $9,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 10.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,316 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 1,257.1% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,140 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056 shares in the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 6.5% during the third quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 34,538 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,400,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094 shares in the last quarter. Ballast Inc. lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 16.1% during the third quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 12,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 46.7% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 36,180 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,514,000 after purchasing an additional 11,517 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven L. Fradkin sold 30,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $2,434,703.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 55,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,462,687.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $84.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. Northern Trust Co. has a one year low of $62.44 and a one year high of $89.25. The firm has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 66.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $72.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Northern Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up from $82.00) on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.92.

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.