Short Interest in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Grows By 21.1%

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,760,000 shares, a growth of 21.1% from the January 31st total of 2,280,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NTRS traded down $1.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $103.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,113,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,231,259. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.56. Northern Trust has a 1-year low of $79.30 and a 1-year high of $114.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. Analysts predict that Northern Trust will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Northern Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total value of $251,828.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,883.88. This represents a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $429,852.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at $9,242,722. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NTRS. FMR LLC grew its stake in Northern Trust by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,637,435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,542,685 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,486,616 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $767,378,000 after purchasing an additional 92,162 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 0.5% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,085,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $637,873,000 after purchasing an additional 38,360 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Northern Trust by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,904,871 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $501,444,000 after purchasing an additional 30,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Northern Trust by 9.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $386,809,000 after buying an additional 388,692 shares during the period. 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.