Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) Receives $151.91 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $154.5455.

A number of brokerages recently commented on NTRS. Zacks Research upgraded Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $136.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Northern Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Northern Trust from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $148.00 to $151.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $143.32 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.56 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.36. Northern Trust has a 1-year low of $81.62 and a 1-year high of $157.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $2.42 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.26 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid 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 yield of 2.2%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.61%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other news, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 3,255 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.89, for a total value of $468,361.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,093,887.28. The trade was a 18.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Clive Bellows sold 1,148 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 34,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,958,159.58. The trade was a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 34,905 shares of company stock valued at $5,166,714 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 4.9% in the third quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,659 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 13.1% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 682 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 5.1% in the third quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 1,666 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,379 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 2.2% in the third quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,812 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.