Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Price Target Raised to $131.00

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its price target increased by Morgan Stanley from $127.00 to $131.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on NTRS. Wall Street Zen cut Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.46.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $139.46 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Northern Trust has a twelve month low of $81.62 and a twelve month high of $140.75. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.22.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.37% and a net margin of 11.99%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 37.30%.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other news, insider John Landers sold 766 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.35, for a total value of $95,252.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,313 shares in the company, valued at $909,371.55. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 3,891 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $128.57 per share, with a total value of $500,265.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,686 shares in the company, valued at $859,619.02. This represents a 139.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Northern Trust by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,593,674 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,864,652,000 after purchasing an additional 188,472 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,493,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,285,236,000 after buying an additional 97,584 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 19.5% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,793,757 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $988,170,000 after buying an additional 1,270,748 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 3.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,196,659 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $656,229,000 after acquiring an additional 184,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,501,628 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $443,971,000 after acquiring an additional 58,029 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ: NTRS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in Chicago that provides asset servicing, asset management and wealth management solutions to institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals. The company’s core businesses include custody and fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, trust and fiduciary services, private banking, and retirement and defined contribution plan services.

Northern Trust’s product and service offerings span custody and fund accounting, portfolio and performance analytics, securities lending, cash management and foreign exchange, as well as discretionary and non-discretionary investment management.