AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,222 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 13,081 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's holdings in Northern Trust were worth $9,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,061 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 9.9% during the third 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 last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 68.1% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,239,000 after purchasing an additional 5,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $1,059,000. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

In related news, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,918,883.88. This trade represents a 11.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,631 shares of company stock valued at $4,550,459 over the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on NTRS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays raised their price target on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.58.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Northern Trust

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $110.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $21.96 billion, a PE ratio of 11.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.99. Northern Trust Co. has a fifty-two week low of $78.75 and a fifty-two week high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.67%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

Before you make your next trade, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis.

Our team has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and none of the big name stocks were on the list.

They believe these five stocks are the five best companies for investors to buy now...

See The Five Stocks Here

Before you consider Northern Trust, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Northern Trust wasn't on the list.

While Northern Trust currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.