Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Sets New 1-Year High at $92.47

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $92.47 and last traded at $92.47, with a volume of 349134 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $90.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NTRS. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Northern Trust from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Northern Trust from $85.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Northern Trust from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.75.

Northern Trust Stock Down 0.8 %

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 has a market cap of $18.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $87.59 and its 200 day moving average is $85.27.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The asset manager reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 10.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 53.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Co. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In related news, EVP Teresa Parker sold 5,883 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $494,524.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 83,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,041,285.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Mark C. Gossett sold 6,000 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.90, for a total transaction of $533,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,707 shares in the company, valued at $2,552,052.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa Parker sold 5,883 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total transaction of $494,524.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 83,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,041,285.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,738 shares of company stock valued at $1,191,388 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 140.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,802,792 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $489,640,000 after acquiring an additional 3,387,002 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $105,665,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $90,532,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 13.0% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,413,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $622,596,000 after buying an additional 850,556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,891,902 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $581,539,000 after acquiring an additional 394,855 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.