Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,592,826 shares, a growth of 16.6% from the March 31st total of 2,224,596 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 873,204 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NTRS. Zacks Research cut shares of Northern Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $159.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $155.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total value of $3,321,039.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,088,582.08. The trade was a 51.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 245 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $151.85 per share, with a total value of $37,203.25. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 6,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,052,472.35. The trade was a 3.66% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 32,705 shares of company stock valued at $5,211,464 in the last ninety days. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 122.6% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 48,284 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,595,000 after acquiring an additional 26,594 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 2.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,947,456 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $262,128,000 after acquiring an additional 40,048 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in Northern Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,253,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 119.9% in the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 83,175 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,195,000 after acquiring an additional 45,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 62.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,042,084 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $140,265,000 after acquiring an additional 400,247 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of Northern Trust stock traded down $1.86 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $164.48. The company had a trading volume of 834,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,185,753. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $30.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.83. Northern Trust has a 1-year low of $95.88 and a 1-year high of $173.18.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. Northern Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northern Trust will post 10.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.51%.

Northern Trust Company Profile

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.