Commerce Bank Has $9.26 Million Stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Commerce Bank lessened its holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 109,722 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 8,986 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $9,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,533,855 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $551,327,000 after acquiring an additional 1,553,783 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $90,532,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,415,790 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $167,849,000 after purchasing an additional 363,747 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in Northern Trust by 4.2% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,497,047 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $451,415,000 after buying an additional 264,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 168.3% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 407,683 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,326,000 after buying an additional 255,740 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on NTRS. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $86.00 target price (up from $82.00) on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.92.

Insider Activity

In other Northern Trust news, insider Peter Cherecwich sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.09, for a total transaction of $1,045,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,740,809.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Peter Cherecwich sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.09, for a total value of $1,045,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,471 shares in the company, valued at $2,740,809.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven L. Fradkin sold 4,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.56, for a total value of $338,248.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,804,199.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ NTRS traded up $0.45 on Friday, reaching $83.31. The company had a trading volume of 554,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 967,294. Northern Trust Co. has a 52 week low of $62.44 and a 52 week high of $89.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $84.94 and its 200-day moving average is $82.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $17.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The asset manager reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.79 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 12.57% and a net margin of 7.59%. Equities analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.23%.

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.