Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Brokerages

Shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $183.47.

NTRS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $185.50 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $173.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $175.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Northern Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $178.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $189.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $167.92 on Wednesday. Northern Trust has a 12-month low of $121.53 and a 12-month high of $195.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $177.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.01. The firm has a market cap of $30.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.16, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The asset manager reported $3.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.53. Northern Trust had a net margin of 15.86% and a return on equity of 17.97%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Northern Trust will post 11.95 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northern Trust news, Director Robert Moritz, Jr. bought 255 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $179.57 per share, with a total value of $45,790.35. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,388. This represents a 3.13% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.90, for a total value of $332,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 92,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,180,353.30. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Northern Trust in the second quarter valued at $2,523,781,000. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the second quarter worth approximately $1,060,553,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Northern Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $361,079,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Northern Trust by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,455,996 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $342,744,000 after purchasing an additional 36,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 2.0% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,500,961 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $254,203,000 after buying an additional 29,490 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) is a financial services company that provides wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services. The company serves institutional investors, corporations, financial institutions, high-net-worth individuals and families.

Its offerings include custody and administration of investment assets, fund accounting, securities lending, foreign exchange, treasury services, investment management, trust and estate services, private banking and wealth planning.