Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Hits New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Northern Trust shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $187.55, reflecting recent momentum in the stock.
• Recent analyst activity has been mixed but generally constructive: several firms raised targets or upgraded the stock, though the overall consensus rating remains Hold with a $178.75 price target.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.71 versus estimates of $2.37 and revenue of $2.21 billion, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share for a 1.7% yield.

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $187.55 and last traded at $187.77, with a volume of 24357 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $184.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTRS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $175.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Northern Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $168.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research raised Northern Trust from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Northern Trust from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $178.75.

Northern Trust Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $34.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company's fifty day moving average is $170.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.16.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Corporation will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Northern Trust's payout ratio is 33.51%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, insider Clive Bellows sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.02, for a total value of $462,056.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 28,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,656,369.34. This represents a 9.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total value of $3,321,039.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,088,582.08. The trade was a 51.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 22,800 shares of company stock worth $3,785,251. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ballast Inc. increased its stake in Northern Trust by 12.8% in the second quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 13,290 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507 shares in the last quarter. Tema ETFs LLC boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 10.1% during the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $246,000. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 52,671 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,156,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,728 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $648,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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