Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Stock Price

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $103.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "underweight" rating on the asset manager's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price would indicate a potential downside of 2.92% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Northern Trust from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Northern Trust from $98.00 to $92.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $108.42.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Northern Trust stock traded down $0.95 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $106.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,021,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,292,243. Northern Trust has a 52 week low of $79.68 and a 52 week high of $114.67. The firm has a market cap of $20.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.85, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average of $97.24 and a 200-day moving average of $103.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Teresa Parker sold 6,467 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.62, for a total value of $650,709.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 79,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,988,322.42. This represents a 7.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.95, for a total value of $329,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,872,163.20. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northern Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Northern Trust by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,061 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings 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 worth $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth $7,437,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,406 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $129,909,000 after purchasing an additional 8,102 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,059,000. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.