Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, The Goldman Sachs Group Analyst Says

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its target price increased by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $92.00 to $102.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sell” rating on the asset manager’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target points to a potential downside of 6.88% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.83.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $109.54 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $105.76 and its 200-day moving average is $96.30. The company has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.08. 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 $76.67 and a 52-week high of $111.87.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 10.92%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.18, for a total transaction of $1,698,972.54. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,476.46. This represents a 78.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.80, for a total transaction of $529,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 49,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,264,184.80. This represents a 9.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,253 shares of company stock worth $3,238,073 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Northern Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.