Citigroup Cuts Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Price Target to $105.00

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its target price reduced by Citigroup from $110.00 to $105.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

NTRS has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.85.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $101.44 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $107.35 and a 200-day moving average of $102.73. Northern Trust has a 52 week low of $79.32 and a 52 week high of $114.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released 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 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at $9,242,722. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total transaction of $2,936,191.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,987,202.96. This represents a 49.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Northern Trust by 9.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 68.1% in 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 period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $129,909,000 after purchasing an additional 8,102 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

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.