Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) Increases Dividend to $0.80 Per Share

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 23rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.80 per share by the asset manager on Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is a 6.7% increase from Northern Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75.

Northern Trust has a payout ratio of 35.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Northern Trust to earn $9.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.2%.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.8%

NTRS stock traded up $1.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $129.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 390,347 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,650,571. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $116.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.85. The stock has a market cap of $25.25 billion, a PE ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.26. Northern Trust has a 52 week low of $80.81 and a 52 week high of $133.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 11.75% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The company's revenue was down 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.34 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NTRS. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $118.00 price objective (down previously from $120.00) on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $123.00 price target on shares of Northern Trust and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $116.58.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, insider Teresa Parker sold 6,467 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.62, for a total value of $650,709.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 79,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,988,322.42. This represents a 7.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.95, for a total transaction of $329,835.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 28,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,872,163.20. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,772 shares of company stock valued at $981,069. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Trust

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Northern Trust stock. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 13.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,112 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 2,363 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Northern Trust were worth $1,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

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.