Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Hits New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Northern Trust shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $176.93 before closing at $174.95, reflecting continued strength in the stock.
• The company reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings of $2.71 per share on revenue of $2.21 billion, both ahead of analyst estimates and up sharply from a year ago.
• Wall Street remains cautious overall, with a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.08, even as the company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share.

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $176.93 and last traded at $174.95, with a volume of 903331 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTRS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Monday, February 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $155.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $164.08.

Northern Trust Stock Up 0.1%

The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $164.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $149.93. The firm has a market cap of $32.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.34. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 225 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $1,355,409.45. This represents a 2.84% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,088,582.08. The trade was a 51.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 22,800 shares of company stock valued at $3,785,251. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 10.3% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,910 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 131.1% during the first quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 6,496 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $907,000 after buying an additional 3,685 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 9.7% during the first quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 56,620 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $7,902,000 after buying an additional 5,005 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 5.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 622,852 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $86,931,000 after buying an additional 33,029 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 0.9% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 98,786 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $13,788,000 after buying an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

Northern Trust Company Profile

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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