Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The asset manager reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.05, RTT News reports. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 11.75%. The company's revenue was down 26.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.34 EPS.

Northern Trust Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $130.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,158,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,656,341. The firm has a market cap of $25.30 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Northern Trust has a twelve month low of $80.81 and a twelve month high of $133.00.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a boost from Northern Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Northern Trust's payout ratio is currently 27.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northern Trust news, insider Teresa Parker sold 6,467 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $650,709.54. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 79,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,988,322.42. This trade represents a 7.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $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. Insiders sold a total of 9,772 shares of company stock worth $981,069 over the last quarter. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Northern Trust stock. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Free Report) by 39.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,557 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 4,653 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP's holdings in Northern Trust were worth $1,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 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.