Ballast Inc. Purchases 136 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Ballast Inc. increased its stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,208 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $1,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 84.5% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 393 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 93.4% during the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 408 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 64.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 496 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main bought a new position in Northern Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded Northern Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $99.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Steven L. Fradkin sold 30,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $2,434,703.12. Following the sale, 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 through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $88.92 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $81.50 and its 200 day moving average is $77.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. Northern Trust Co. has a fifty-two week low of $62.44 and a fifty-two week high of $90.59. The company has a market capitalization of $18.14 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.12.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.81). The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 12.44% and a net margin of 9.14%. Northern Trust’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.06%.

Northern Trust 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.