StockNews.com Upgrades Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on NTRS. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Northern Trust from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $103.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $84.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.00.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $108.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $21.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Northern Trust has a 52 week low of $76.67 and a 52 week high of $111.87. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.68.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.31%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.12, for a total value of $163,462.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $88,120. This represents a 64.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total transaction of $1,010,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 47,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,305,467. This represents a 15.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 84,006 shares of company stock valued at $8,653,352 over the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NTRS. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Northern Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 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.