Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Reaches New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $110.00 to $114.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Northern Trust traded as high as $112.52 and last traded at $112.38, with a volume of 153059 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $111.48.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays raised their target price on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.58.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In related news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.80, for a total value of $529,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 49,756 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,184.80. This represents a 9.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.18, for a total value of $1,698,972.54. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,476.46. This trade represents a 78.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,253 shares of company stock worth $3,238,073 over the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in Northern Trust by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,239,000 after purchasing an additional 5,578 shares in the last quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $538,000. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 59,118 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,322,000 after acquiring an additional 4,564 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northern Trust Stock Up 0.8 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.93. 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 company has a market capitalization of $22.28 billion, a PE ratio of 13.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.08.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 7.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.31%.

Northern Trust Company Profile

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.