Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $165.25.

Several research firms recently commented on NTRS. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Northern Trust from $153.50 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $166.41 per share, with a total value of $37,442.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,145 shares in the company, valued at $1,355,409.45. This trade represents a 2.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total transaction of $3,321,039.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,088,582.08. This trade represents a 51.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 22,800 shares of company stock worth $3,785,251 over the last 90 days. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Northern Trust by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,493,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,285,236,000 after buying an additional 97,584 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,747,840 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $511,917,000 after acquiring an additional 301,164 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,894,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $395,395,000 after acquiring an additional 161,826 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 1.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,455,996 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $342,744,000 after acquiring an additional 36,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 4.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,036,137 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $284,184,000 after acquiring an additional 83,117 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $174.03 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Northern Trust has a 52 week low of $118.53 and a 52 week high of $177.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $166.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.25.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.84%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Northern Trust will post 10.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders 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 1.8%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is presently 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.