Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Earns Buy (B-) Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Northern Trust has been restated with a "buy (B-)" rating by Weiss Ratings, indicating positive investor sentiment.
• Analysts have set a range of target prices for Northern Trust, with Wells Fargo raising its target to $131 and Citigroup increasing it to $135, reflecting a generally optimistic outlook.
• During the last quarter, Northern Trust reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.29, surpassing analysts' expectations and revealing a 2.8% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b-)" rating restated by Weiss Ratings in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday,Weiss Ratings reports.

NTRS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $135.00 target price on Northern Trust in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Northern Trust in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $142.00 target price on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $130.71.

Northern Trust Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $126.03 on Friday. Northern Trust has a fifty-two week low of $81.62 and a fifty-two week high of $135.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.31. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $129.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.12.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.03. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.37% and a net margin of 11.99%.The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. Northern Trust's revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $126.34 per share, for a total transaction of $32,343.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 2,525 shares in the company, valued at $319,008.50. This trade represents a 11.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $276,087,000. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,793,757 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $988,170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,270,748 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 2,397.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 657,026 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $83,304,000 after acquiring an additional 630,717 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 47.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,810,816 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $178,637,000 after acquiring an additional 585,992 shares during the period. Finally, Rokos Capital Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $73,888,000. 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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