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

Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $112.85.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target 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.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Northern Trust stock opened at $101.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. Northern Trust has a 1-year low of $79.32 and a 1-year high of $114.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $107.45 and a 200-day moving average of $102.63. 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 (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. This represents a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at $9,242,722. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211 in the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in Northern Trust by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $624,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Ellevest Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 3,410 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 4,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.