UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Stock Price

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its price objective raised by UBS Group from $110.00 to $114.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on NTRS. Barclays upped their price target on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Northern Trust from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.58.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NTRS stock opened at $111.48 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $22.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $105.89 and its 200 day moving average is $96.76. Northern Trust has a 1-year low of $76.67 and a 1-year high of $111.87.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 12.75%. Research analysts predict that Northern Trust will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other news, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total transaction of $1,010,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 47,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,305,467. The trade was a 15.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.18, for a total transaction of $1,698,972.54. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,397 shares in the company, valued at $462,476.46. This trade represents a 78.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 30,253 shares of company stock worth $3,238,073. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,061 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its stake in Northern Trust by 118.4% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 249 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 928,854 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $95,208,000 after acquiring an additional 14,362 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC raised its position in Northern Trust by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 13,617 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 13,963 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation, a financial holding company, provides wealth management, asset servicing, asset management, and banking solutions for corporations, institutions, families, and individuals worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Servicing and Wealth Management. The Asset Servicing segment offers asset servicing and related services, including custody, fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, investment management, investment risk and analytical services, employee benefit services, securities lending, foreign exchange, treasury management, brokerage services, transition management services, banking, and cash management services.