Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $151.9091.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Northern Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $139.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $136.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Northern Trust stock opened at $142.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.18. The stock has a market cap of $26.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23. Northern Trust has a 12-month low of $81.62 and a 12-month high of $157.60.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.87% and a net margin of 12.15%.The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Northern Trust will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.61%.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In related news, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 3,255 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.89, for a total transaction of $468,361.95. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 14,552 shares in the company, valued at $2,093,887.28. This trade represents a 18.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard Petrino purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $148.91 per share, for a total transaction of $148,910.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $496,168.12. This trade represents a 42.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 34,905 shares of company stock worth $5,166,714. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.0% during the third 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 period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Northern Trust by 8.7% in 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 period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 valued at $395,395,000 after acquiring an additional 161,826 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Northern Trust by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,419,674 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $330,527,000 after acquiring an additional 41,478 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,953,020 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $266,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,564 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Northern Trust

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.