Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Lowered to Underperform Rating by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report issued on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $120.00 price target on the asset manager's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' target price would suggest a potential downside of 5.23% from the company's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $89.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $118.00 to $111.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $114.50.

Northern Trust Trading Down 0.3%

NTRS opened at $126.62 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.28. Northern Trust has a fifty-two week low of $80.81 and a fifty-two week high of $133.00. The company has a market cap of $24.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a net margin of 13.93% and a return on equity of 13.73%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other news, insider Teresa Parker sold 6,467 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 79,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,988,322.42. This represents a 7.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 28,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,872,163.20. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,772 shares of company stock valued at $981,069 in the last three months. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its position in Northern Trust by 6,400.0% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 260 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in Northern Trust by 5,340.0% in the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 272 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in Northern Trust in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Northern Trust in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Northern Trust by 528.3% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 377 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

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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