West Oak Capital LLC Sells 190 Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

West Oak Capital LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,110 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 190 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $1,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NTRS. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 140.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,802,792 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $489,640,000 after acquiring an additional 3,387,002 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,533,855 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $551,327,000 after acquiring an additional 1,553,783 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the first quarter valued at $105,665,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $90,532,000. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,891,902 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $581,539,000 after acquiring an additional 394,855 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS traded up $0.40 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $84.23. The stock had a trading volume of 728,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,374,749. Northern Trust Co. has a one year low of $62.44 and a one year high of $89.25. The company has a market capitalization of $17.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.17.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The asset manager reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.79 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 12.57%. As a group, research analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Peter Cherecwich sold 12,000 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.09, for a total value of $1,045,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,740,809.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Northern Trust news, insider Peter Cherecwich sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.09, for a total transaction of $1,045,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,740,809.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Steven L. Fradkin sold 4,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.56, for a total transaction of $338,248.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,804,199.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company 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.