Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $93.31 and last traded at $93.20, with a volume of 118071 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $91.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on NTRS shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $84.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.42.

Northern Trust Trading Up 1.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $18.59 billion, a PE ratio of 12.61, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $88.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.05. 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 (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The asset manager reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.03. Northern Trust had a net margin of 10.53% and a return on equity of 12.24%. The firm 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 company earned $1.79 earnings per share. Northern Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 53.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 41.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Teresa Parker sold 5,883 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $494,524.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 83,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,041,285.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.12, for a total transaction of $163,462.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $88,120. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Teresa Parker sold 5,883 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total transaction of $494,524.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 83,765 shares in the company, valued at $7,041,285.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 13,738 shares of company stock valued at $1,191,388. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Northern Trust during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 10,566.7% in the fourth quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 320 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 343.9% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 435 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.