Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Stock Price

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its price objective boosted by Royal Bank Of Canada from $159.00 to $178.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on NTRS. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Northern Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Evercore increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Northern Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $163.55.

Northern Trust Stock Down 2.3%

Northern Trust stock opened at $167.83 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $31.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.23. Northern Trust has a 1-year low of $90.05 and a 1-year high of $173.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $144.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.61%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other news, insider Clive Bellows sold 1,148 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.26, for a total transaction of $166,758.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 34,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,958,159.58. This trade represents a 3.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 3,255 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.89, for a total transaction of $468,361.95. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 14,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,093,887.28. This represents a 18.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 34,905 shares of company stock worth $5,166,714 in the last quarter. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northern Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NTRS. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,112 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,984,000 after buying an additional 2,363 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 16,557 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,633,000 after buying an additional 4,653 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 79.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $267,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 29,290 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,714,000 after buying an additional 1,275 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Northern Trust

Here are the key news stories impacting Northern Trust this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat and outlook: Northern Trust reported Q1 2026 EPS of $2.71 and revenue of ~$2.21B, topping estimates and showing double-digit revenue/AUC/AUM growth plus improved operating leverage and credit quality — the core reason for the post-earnings rally. Q1 Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades/price-target lifts: Multiple banks (Barclays, Wells Fargo, RBC, Truist, Goldman) raised price targets following the strong quarter — supportive for sentiment and likely helped push the stock higher earlier in the session. Analyst Reaction
• Positive Sentiment: Capital return / dividend: Management disclosed an aggressive capital-return posture in Q1 (sizeable buybacks + dividends) and declared a $0.80 quarterly dividend (ex-dividend June 5), reinforcing shareholder-friendly policy. Dividend & Capital Return
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder meeting: Stockholders backed the board, executive pay and company plans at the April 21, 2026 annual meeting — removes governance uncertainty and supports continuity. Annual Meeting
• Neutral Sentiment: Business development: Expanded collaboration with Saphyre to streamline account lifecycle for outsourcing clients — incremental efficiency/tech benefit but not immediately material to top-line. Saphyre Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Docs and transcripts: Full earnings slide deck and call transcript are available for details on margin drivers, NII, and AUC — useful for modeling but not market-moving on their own. Slide Deck
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concern: Some analysts/commentary flag that strong results already puts NTRS near a full valuation — this can cap further upside and explains profit-taking after the initial spike. Valuation Note

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.