Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS – Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on NTRS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Northern Trust from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, January 20th. Barclays upped their target price on Northern Trust from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Northern Trust from $121.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Northern Trust from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $97.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Northern Trust from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $101.05.

Northern Trust Trading Down 4.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $81.73 on Thursday. Northern Trust has a 12-month low of $76.15 and a 12-month high of $121.25. The company has a market capitalization of $17.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50 day moving average of $94.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 19th. The asset manager reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by ($1.10). Northern Trust had a net margin of 17.24% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Northern Trust will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 10th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 9th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.86%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, EVP Lauren E. Allnutt sold 559 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $48,800.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $486,784.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Northern Trust news, EVP Lauren E. Allnutt sold 559 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $48,800.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $486,784.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jason J. Tyler sold 1,764 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.98, for a total value of $171,072.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,954,980.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northern Trust

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,921 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 12,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,716 shares during the period. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 1st quarter worth $548,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,711,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,644,763,000 after purchasing an additional 457,748 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 271.7% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 918 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the period. 81.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northern Trust Company Profile

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Northern Trust Corp. is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of asset servicing, fund administration, asset management, fiduciary, and banking solutions for corporations, institutions, families, and individuals. It operates through the following segments: Corporate & Institutional Services and Wealth Management.