Baird Financial Group Inc. Acquires 8,428 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 18.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,428 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $5,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 118.4% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 249 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter worth 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 worth $39,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Northern Trust by 528.3% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 377 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America cut their price target on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Northern Trust from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Northern Trust from $118.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.83.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $100.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $19.57 billion, a PE ratio of 10.29, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.18. Northern Trust Co. has a 1 year low of $79.68 and a 1 year high of $114.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $94.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.88.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.99%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,242,722. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.