Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Price Target Raised to $115.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its price objective raised by Royal Bank of Canada from $107.00 to $115.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

NTRS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays upped their target price 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. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.75.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $110.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $21.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $105.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.40. Northern Trust has a fifty-two week low of $76.67 and a fifty-two week high of $111.87.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 10.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 37.31%.

Insider Activity

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.80, for a total transaction of $529,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 49,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,264,184.80. This trade represents a 9.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.18, for a total transaction of $1,698,972.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,476.46. The trade was a 78.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,253 shares of company stock worth $3,238,073. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Northern Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Northern Trust

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.