Brokerages Set Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) PT at $89.75

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twelve analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $89.75.

Several brokerages have weighed in on NTRS. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $84.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NTRS opened at $88.57 on Tuesday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.77. Northern Trust has a one year low of $62.44 and a one year high of $92.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Teresa Parker sold 5,883 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $494,524.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 83,765 shares in the company, valued at $7,041,285.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Teresa Parker sold 5,883 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total transaction of $494,524.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 83,765 shares in the company, valued at $7,041,285.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.12, for a total transaction of $163,462.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $88,120. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,738 shares of company stock worth $1,191,388. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Northern Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Northern Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management raised its stake in Northern Trust by 10,566.7% during the 4th quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 320 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Northern Trust in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Northern Trust by 343.9% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 435 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.