Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Acquires Shares of 2,064 Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,064 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in Northern Trust by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,061 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,239,000 after purchasing an additional 5,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $129,909,000 after buying an additional 8,102 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.46.

Northern Trust Stock Down 3.4 %

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $97.15 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. Northern Trust Co. has a 1-year low of $79.32 and a 1-year high of $114.67. The company has a 50-day moving average of $107.04 and a 200 day moving average of $102.78. The firm has a market cap of $19.01 billion, a PE ratio of 9.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 30.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total transaction of $100,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total transaction of $2,936,191.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 26,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. This trade represents a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211 in the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is owned by 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.