Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Northern Trust has a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" from 15 covering brokerages, with an average 1-year price target of about $164.08.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings estimates, reporting $2.71 EPS versus $2.37 expected and revenue of $2.21 billion, up 13.8% year over year.
• Northern Trust also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, payable July 1, while insider activity showed a director buying shares and the CFO selling a large block of stock.

Shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $164.0833.

NTRS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $153.50 to $170.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of Northern Trust from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $159.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Northern Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $168.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th.

Insider Activity

In other Northern Trust news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 225 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $166.41 per share, for a total transaction of $37,442.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,355,409.45. This represents a 2.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total transaction of $3,321,039.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,088,582.08. This represents a 51.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 22,800 shares of company stock worth $3,785,251 over the last three months. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $257,410,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $126,794,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,723,516 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $235,415,000 after purchasing an additional 703,985 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 114.1% during the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,031,579 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $140,903,000 after purchasing an additional 549,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $67,126,000. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.1%

NTRS opened at $174.95 on Thursday. Northern Trust has a 1-year low of $109.39 and a 1-year high of $176.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $32.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $164.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $149.93.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.34. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Northern Trust will post 10.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.51%.

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation NASDAQ: NTRS is a global financial services firm headquartered in Chicago that provides asset servicing, asset management and wealth management solutions to institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals. The company's core businesses include custody and fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, trust and fiduciary services, private banking, and retirement and defined contribution plan services.

Northern Trust's product and service offerings span custody and fund accounting, portfolio and performance analytics, securities lending, cash management and foreign exchange, as well as discretionary and non-discretionary investment management.

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