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

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)’s share price hit 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 traded. The stock had previously closed at $111.48.

NTRS has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com raised Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was 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 owns 47,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,305,467. This trade represents a 15.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.80, for a total value of $529,000.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,253 shares of company stock valued at $3,238,073 in the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,614 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,983,000 after buying an additional 1,665 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Northern Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $130,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Northern Trust during the second quarter worth approximately $1,622,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 14.5% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 922 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 5.4% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 41,075 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,698,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $106.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.09. The company has a market cap of $22.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 10.92%. On average, research analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 7.56 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, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.31%.

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.