Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Lowered to Sell at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $82.00 price target on the asset manager’s stock, down from their prior price target of $84.00.

NTRS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Northern Trust from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Northern Trust from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $89.42.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $90.07 on Thursday. 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 has a 52-week low of $62.44 and a 52-week high of $92.82. The firm has a market cap of $18.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s fifty day moving average is $87.88 and its 200 day moving average is $85.55.

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

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

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

Institutional Trading of Northern Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bayesian Capital Management LP raised its stake in Northern Trust by 986.3% in the 4th quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 37,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,198,000 after acquiring an additional 34,411 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in Northern Trust by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 360,640 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,111,000 after acquiring an additional 23,020 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Northern Trust by 557.8% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30,813 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,740,000 after acquiring an additional 26,129 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Northern Trust by 668.0% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 20,205 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 17,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd raised its stake in Northern Trust by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 602,785 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $53,600,000 after acquiring an additional 24,791 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.