Lazard Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Lazard Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 40.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,881 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 13,616 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $2,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,486,616 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $767,378,000 after purchasing an additional 92,162 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,904,871 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $501,444,000 after purchasing an additional 30,908 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,885,312 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $295,744,000 after purchasing an additional 202,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,532,401 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $259,571,000 after purchasing an additional 39,592 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NTRS shares. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Northern Trust from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Northern Trust from $118.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned 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 Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $107.90 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $95.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $20.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.18. Northern Trust Co. has a 12-month low of $79.68 and a 12-month high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during 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%. Sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.95, for a total value of $329,835.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,872,163.20. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,571 shares of company stock valued at $1,410,397 in the last three months. 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.