Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Upgraded to “Neutral” at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $151.00 price objective on the asset manager’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $148.00.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Northern Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Northern Trust from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Northern Trust from $136.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Evercore increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.55.

Northern Trust Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $143.32 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $143.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.36. Northern Trust has a 52-week low of $81.62 and a 52-week high of $157.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $26.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 in the prior year, the company posted $2.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Northern Trust will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, insider Clive Bellows sold 1,148 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.26, for a total value of $166,758.48. Following the sale, the insider owned 34,133 shares in the company, valued at $4,958,159.58. This trade represents a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard Petrino bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $148.91 per share, for a total transaction of $148,910.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,168.12. This represents a 42.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 34,905 shares of company stock valued at $5,166,714 over the last three months. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 2.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,947,456 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $262,128,000 after purchasing an additional 40,048 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in Northern Trust in the third quarter valued at $2,253,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Northern Trust by 62.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,042,084 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $140,265,000 after purchasing an additional 400,247 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Northern Trust in the third quarter valued at $64,863,000. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Northern Trust by 119.9% in the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 83,175 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,195,000 after purchasing an additional 45,356 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Company Profile

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.