Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Sets New 12-Month High at $92.47

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $92.47 and last traded at $92.47, with a volume of 349134 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $90.31.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Northern Trust from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Northern Trust from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Northern Trust from $85.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.75.

Northern Trust Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $18.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.94, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.16.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The asset manager reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 10.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 53.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.79 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Northern Trust Co. will post 7.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.23%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.12, for a total value of $163,462.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,120. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Northern Trust news, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.12, for a total transaction of $163,462.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,120. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark C. Gossett sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.90, for a total value of $533,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,552,052.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,738 shares of company stock worth $1,191,388 in the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 140.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,802,792 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $489,640,000 after buying an additional 3,387,002 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $105,665,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $90,532,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,413,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $622,596,000 after buying an additional 850,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,891,902 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $581,539,000 after buying an additional 394,855 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Northern Trust

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.