Freestone Grove Partners LP Makes New Investment in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $437,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased 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 during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 51.2% in 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 last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $97.52 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 company has a market cap of $19.08 billion, a PE ratio of 9.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $95.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $102.84. Northern Trust Co. has a fifty-two week low of $79.68 and a fifty-two week high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. Analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid 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 3.08%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 27.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on NTRS. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of 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. StockNews.com downgraded Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total value of $100,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $851,401.60. This represents a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total value of $251,828.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,918,883.88. The trade was a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,966 shares of company stock valued at $781,976 over the last ninety days. 0.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.