Virtu Financial LLC Invests $667,000 in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $667,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Northern Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, EVP Susan Cohen Levy sold 19,585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.26, for a total transaction of $2,002,762.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,132 shares in the company, valued at $1,751,918.32. The trade was a 53.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 27,874 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.50, for a total transaction of $2,801,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,630,839. The trade was a 37.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 82,151 shares of company stock worth $8,489,889 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NTRS stock opened at $104.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $20.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.27. Northern Trust Co. has a 12-month low of $76.67 and a 12-month high of $111.87.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 37.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the company from $84.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.00.

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.