Short Interest in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Increases By 19.6%

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,300,000 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the February 13th total of 2,760,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of Northern Trust stock traded down $0.79 on Thursday, hitting $98.48. 376,685 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,167,813. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $19.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. Northern Trust has a 12-month low of $79.32 and a 12-month high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. Analysts expect that Northern Trust will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NTRS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total transaction of $251,828.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,918,883.88. This trade represents a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total transaction of $100,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $851,401.60. This trade represents a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Northern Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,637,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,685 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $83,550,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 201.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,791,000 after purchasing an additional 644,261 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,497,484 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $153,493,000 after purchasing an additional 562,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 451.9% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 555,631 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $56,866,000 after purchasing an additional 454,956 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Company Profile

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.