Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Price Target Cut to $136.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its price target dropped by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $136.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 30.91% from the stock’s current price.

NTRS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.50.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Northern Trust stock traded down $1.48 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $103.89. 536,218 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,220,708. Northern Trust has a 52-week low of $79.30 and a 52-week high of $114.67. The stock has a market cap of $20.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $108.21 and its 200 day moving average is $101.56.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. Analysts predict that Northern Trust will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, 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 value of $251,828.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,883.88. This represents a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total value of $2,936,191.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. The trade was a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NTRS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Northern Trust by 238.7% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,275 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 2,308 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $177,000. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 363,352 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,713,000 after buying an additional 24,821 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Northern Trust in the third quarter valued at $68,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 7.5% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 577,855 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $52,024,000 after acquiring an additional 40,271 shares during the last quarter. 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.