Short Interest in Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Grows By 19.6%

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,300,000 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the February 13th total of 2,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total transaction of $2,936,191.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. This represents a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total transaction of $251,828.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,918,883.88. This trade represents a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. FMR LLC grew its position in Northern Trust by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,637,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,685 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,550,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 201.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,791,000 after acquiring an additional 644,261 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 60.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,497,484 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $153,493,000 after acquiring an additional 562,976 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Northern Trust by 451.9% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 555,631 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $56,866,000 after purchasing an additional 454,956 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NTRS stock traded down $0.79 on Thursday, reaching $98.48. 376,685 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,167,813. The company has a market cap of $19.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $107.51 and a 200-day moving average of $102.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Northern Trust has a one year low of $79.32 and a one year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. Analysts anticipate that Northern Trust will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 30.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTRS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.50.

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.