Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Stock Price

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its price target reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $119.00 to $118.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.46.

Northern Trust Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $97.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $19.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $107.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.78. Northern Trust has a 12-month low of $79.32 and a 12-month high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Northern Trust will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 30.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $429,852.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,242,722. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.67, for a total value of $252,042.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 58,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,585,448.83. This trade represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211 in the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,550,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 201.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,791,000 after buying an additional 644,261 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,497,484 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $153,493,000 after buying an additional 562,976 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 451.9% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 555,631 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $56,866,000 after acquiring an additional 454,956 shares during the period. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $46,197,000. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.