Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $108.42.

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $103.00 price objective (up from $101.00) on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS stock opened at $107.91 on Friday. Northern Trust has a one year low of $79.68 and a one year high of $114.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $97.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.22.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.99%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, insider Teresa Parker sold 6,467 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.62, for a total value of $650,709.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 79,391 shares in the company, valued at $7,988,322.42. This trade represents a 7.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.95, for a total transaction of $329,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,872,163.20. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,772 shares of company stock worth $981,069 in the last ninety days. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northern Trust

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Northern Trust by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake 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 valued at $2,286,000 after buying an additional 4,374 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Northern Trust by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 21,236 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,177,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Northern Trust by 333.5% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,749 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,819,000 after buying an additional 13,655 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP increased its stake in Northern Trust by 106.2% during the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 17,094 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,752,000 after buying an additional 8,803 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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