Empirical Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 32,687 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 9.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,637,435,000 after buying an additional 1,542,685 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 0.5% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,085,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $637,873,000 after acquiring an additional 38,360 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,644,205 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $222,060,000 after acquiring an additional 91,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,577,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $141,986,000 after purchasing an additional 16,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $84.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Northern Trust from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.17.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NTRS opened at $106.87 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $105.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Northern Trust Co. has a 12-month low of $76.67 and a 12-month high of $111.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.08.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, insider Teresa Parker sold 4,439 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.86, for a total value of $447,717.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 79,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,000,820.36. The trade was a 5.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 27,874 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.50, for a total value of $2,801,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,078 shares in the company, valued at $4,630,839. The trade was a 37.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 82,151 shares of company stock worth $8,489,889 over the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is currently 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.