Short Interest in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Drops By 19.3%

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,720,000 shares, a decrease of 19.3% from the March 15th total of 3,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,360,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.4% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on NTRS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup decreased their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Northern Trust from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $110.83.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTRS traded down $0.81 on Friday, reaching $91.59. The stock had a trading volume of 1,171,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,253,161. The stock has a market cap of $17.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. Northern Trust has a 12-month low of $79.68 and a 12-month high of $114.67. The business's 50-day moving average price is $98.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Northern Trust will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total value of $2,936,191.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. This trade represents a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,918,883.88. The trade was a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Northern Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,550,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Northern Trust by 201.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $98,791,000 after buying an additional 644,261 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Northern Trust by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,497,484 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $153,493,000 after buying an additional 562,976 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 451.9% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 555,631 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $56,866,000 after acquiring an additional 454,956 shares during the period. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,197,000. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.