Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Given New $103.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $103.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Northern Trust from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Northern Trust from $118.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.42.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $107.05 on Tuesday. Northern Trust has a 12-month low of $79.68 and a 12-month high of $114.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.26.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Northern Trust will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.99%.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other news, insider Teresa Parker sold 6,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.62, for a total transaction of $650,709.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 79,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,988,322.42. This represents a 7.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.95, for a total value of $329,835.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,872,163.20. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Trust

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,061 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 9.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $7,437,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Northern Trust by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $129,909,000 after buying an additional 8,102 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $1,059,000. 83.19% of the stock is 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.