Traders Purchase High Volume of Northern Trust Call Options (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 2,287 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 261% compared to the average daily volume of 634 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Northern Trust from $98.00 to $92.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Northern Trust from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $118.00 to $111.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $110.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $329,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,736 shares in the company, valued at $2,872,163.20. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Teresa Parker sold 6,467 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.62, for a total value of $650,709.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 79,391 shares in the company, valued at $7,988,322.42. The trade was a 7.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Trust

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Northern Trust by 9.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $386,809,000 after acquiring an additional 388,692 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,015 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 15,855 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,625,000 after acquiring an additional 905 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Northern Trust by 62.8% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 678,461 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $69,542,000 after acquiring an additional 261,797 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northern Trust Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NTRS stock traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $106.31. The company had a trading volume of 1,063,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,294,971. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.24. Northern Trust has a 12 month low of $79.68 and a 12 month high of $114.67. The company has a market cap of $20.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Northern Trust will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Northern Trust's payout ratio is 27.99%.

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.