Short Interest in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) Increases By 16.6%

Key Points

• Short interest rose 16.6% in April to 2,592,826 shares (about 1.4% of shares outstanding), with a short-interest ratio of 3.0 days.
• Northern Trust beat Q1 estimates, reporting EPS of $2.71 vs. $2.37 expected and revenue of $2.21B, up 13.8% year-over-year.
• The board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.80 ($3.20 annualized, ~1.9% yield), while analysts hold a consensus Hold rating with an average target of $163.55.

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,592,826 shares, a growth of 16.6% from the March 31st total of 2,224,596 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 873,204 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $164.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The business's fifty day moving average price is $146.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.66. Northern Trust has a fifty-two week low of $91.74 and a fifty-two week high of $173.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.23.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Northern Trust will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Northern Trust's payout ratio is currently 33.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $159.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $163.55.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 245 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $151.85 per share, with a total value of $37,203.25. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,052,472.35. This trade represents a 3.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Clive Bellows sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.02, for a total value of $462,056.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 28,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,656,369.34. The trade was a 9.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,705 shares of company stock valued at $5,211,464. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northern Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.