Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.75.

Northern Trust Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $110.92 on Friday. Northern Trust has a one year low of $76.67 and a one year high of $111.87. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $105.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $21.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.08.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Northern Trust will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total transaction of $1,010,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 47,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,305,467. The trade was a 15.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.18, for a total value of $1,698,972.54. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,397 shares in the company, valued at $462,476.46. This trade represents a 78.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,253 shares of company stock worth $3,238,073. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Trust

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $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.