Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Stock Price

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $127.00 to $125.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on NTRS. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.64.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $103.28 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $105.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.18. Northern Trust has a 52-week low of $76.67 and a 52-week high of $111.87. The company has a market cap of $20.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 27,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.50, for a total transaction of $2,801,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,630,839. The trade was a 37.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Teresa Parker sold 4,439 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.86, for a total transaction of $447,717.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 79,326 shares in the company, valued at $8,000,820.36. This represents a 5.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 82,151 shares of company stock valued at $8,489,889. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $386,809,000 after buying an additional 388,692 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 68.1% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,239,000 after purchasing an additional 5,578 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 59,118 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,322,000 after buying an additional 4,564 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 327.1% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 28,510 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,567,000 after purchasing an additional 21,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Northern Trust in the second quarter worth $3,666,000. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.