Brokerages Set Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) Price Target at $164.08

Shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $164.0833.

NTRS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $159.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Northern Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd.

Insider Activity

In other Northern Trust news, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total value of $3,321,039.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,088,582.08. This trade represents a 51.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Guy Gibson sold 3,009 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.39, for a total transaction of $428,451.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 29,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,176,583.48. This trade represents a 9.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,064 shares of company stock worth $4,682,064. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $165.45 on Friday. Northern Trust has a fifty-two week low of $104.99 and a fifty-two week high of $173.18. The stock has a market cap of $30.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.90.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.34. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust will post 10.68 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 Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.51%.

Northern Trust Company Profile

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ: NTRS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in Chicago that provides asset servicing, asset management and wealth management solutions to institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals. The company’s core businesses include custody and fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, trust and fiduciary services, private banking, and retirement and defined contribution plan services.

Northern Trust’s product and service offerings span custody and fund accounting, portfolio and performance analytics, securities lending, cash management and foreign exchange, as well as discretionary and non-discretionary investment management.