Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $180.6786.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $179.50 to $185.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $157.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Northern Trust from $176.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 255 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $179.57 per share, for a total transaction of $45,790.35. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,388. This represents a 3.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 122.6% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 48,284 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,595,000 after purchasing an additional 26,594 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,959,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 1,838.1% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 180,034 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $22,793,000 after purchasing an additional 170,745 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Northern Trust by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,894,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $395,395,000 after buying an additional 161,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the fourth quarter worth $67,126,000. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $184.14 on Friday. Northern Trust has a twelve month low of $121.12 and a twelve month high of $191.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.25.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is an increase from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 27.47%.

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.