Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) PT Raised to $97.00 at Morgan Stanley

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $93.00 to $97.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

NTRS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. 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 research report on Monday, September 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Northern Trust from a neutral rating to a sell rating and lowered their price target for the company from $84.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $89.75.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NTRS opened at $88.40 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $88.02 and a 200 day moving average of $85.75. Northern Trust has a 52-week low of $62.44 and a 52-week high of $92.82. The stock has a market cap of $18.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.08.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $2.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 10.53% and a return on equity of 12.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust will post 7.01 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 66.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Teresa Parker sold 5,883 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $494,524.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 83,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,041,285.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Teresa Parker sold 5,883 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $494,524.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 83,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,041,285.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,120. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,738 shares of company stock worth $1,191,388 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Northern Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in Northern Trust by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 922 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 43,713 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,608,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Northern Trust by 1.3% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 10,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $889,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,291 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,257 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is 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.