Citigroup Lowers Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Price Target to $105.00

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its target price cut by Citigroup from $110.00 to $105.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on NTRS. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.85.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $101.44 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Northern Trust has a 1 year low of $79.32 and a 1 year high of $114.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $107.45 and a 200-day moving average of $102.63.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northern Trust news, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total value of $100,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $851,401.60. The trade was a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total value of $251,828.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,883.88. This represents a 11.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,061 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 68.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,239,000 after purchasing an additional 5,578 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $129,909,000 after purchasing an additional 8,102 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

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.