Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Given New $175.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised its price target for Northern Trust from $150 to $175 (an "equal weight" rating), implying roughly a 4% upside$161.91 with most brokers at Hold/Neutral (4 Buy, 8 Hold, 2 Sell).
• Northern Trust beat Q1 expectations with $2.71 EPS vs $2.37 and revenue of $2.21B vs $2.13B, and highlighted a 100% total payout for the quarter including roughly $359M in buybacks as a driver of shareholder value.
• Shares traded at $168.24 (down ~2%) but remain near a 52‑week high of $173.18; insiders sold about 34,905 shares last quarter while institutional investors own roughly 83.2% of the stock.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $150.00 to $175.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the asset manager's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target suggests a potential upside of 4.02% from the stock's current price.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Citigroup began coverage on Northern Trust in a report on Monday, February 23rd. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Evercore increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $155.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $161.91.

Northern Trust Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS traded down $3.51 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $168.24. 276,458 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,082,798. The stock has a market cap of $31.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $144.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.21. Northern Trust has a 52-week low of $90.05 and a 52-week high of $173.18.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 14.87%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust will post 10.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, Director Richard Petrino purchased 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $148.91 per share, for a total transaction of $148,910.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 3,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at $496,168.12. The trade was a 42.88% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Guy Gibson sold 3,009 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.39, for a total transaction of $428,451.51. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 29,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,176,583.48. The trade was a 9.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 34,905 shares of company stock valued at $5,166,714 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Northern Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,493,634 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,285,236,000 after buying an additional 97,584 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,747,840 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $511,917,000 after acquiring an additional 301,164 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Northern Trust by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,894,755 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $395,395,000 after acquiring an additional 161,826 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Northern Trust by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,419,674 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $330,527,000 after acquiring an additional 41,478 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,953,020 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $266,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,564 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Key Northern Trust News

Here are the key news stories impacting Northern Trust this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations — Northern Trust reported diluted EPS of $2.71 and fully taxable equivalent revenue of ~$2.21B, with net income ~$525.5M and improved credit quality and operating leverage cited on the call. These upside surprises are the primary catalyst for the rally. Q1 Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Strong capital returns highlighted — the company disclosed a 100% total payout for the quarter (dividends plus ~$359M in buybacks), which supports EPS and shareholder value and likely helped push the stock higher. QuiverQuant Analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst target tick higher — Truist lifted its price target from $155 to $176 (hold), signaling modest additional upside relative to current levels and reinforcing the takeaways from the quarter. Truist/PT Note
• Neutral Sentiment: Quarterly dividend declared — Northern Trust set a $0.80 quarterly dividend (ex‑dividend June 5, payable July 1), implying an annualized yield near 1.9%; supportive for income investors but not a large yield.
• Neutral Sentiment: Conference call and coverage available — detailed Q&A and analyst takes (transcripts on Seeking Alpha/Yahoo) provide more color on fee drivers, AUM/AUC growth and margin dynamics for those evaluating sustainability of the beat. Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Pressure points: revenue mix and expenses — some writeups note revenue growth lagging certain segments and higher expenses; long‑term margin sustainability will be monitored. Zacks Coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Notable institutional and insider selling activity — recent filings and data show large quarter‑end reductions by some asset managers and multiple insider sales, which could weigh on sentiment if sustained. QuiverQuant Ownership Data

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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