Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,760,000 shares, a growth of 21.1% from the January 31st total of 2,280,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $104.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Northern Trust has a 12 month low of $79.30 and a 12 month high of $114.67. The company has a market capitalization of $20.42 billion, a PE ratio of 10.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.69.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. Research analysts forecast that Northern Trust will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 30.67%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total value of $2,936,191.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. The trade was a 49.57 % 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, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.67, for a total value of $252,042.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,449 shares in the company, valued at $6,585,448.83. The trade was a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 9.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,637,435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,542,685 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,486,616 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $767,378,000 after purchasing an additional 92,162 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,085,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $637,873,000 after purchasing an additional 38,360 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,904,871 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $501,444,000 after purchasing an additional 30,908 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Northern Trust by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NTRS shares. StockNews.com cut Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.50.

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.