Brokerages Set Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) PT at $89.75

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $89.75.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NTRS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th.

Northern Trust Trading Down 1.5 %

NTRS stock traded down $1.31 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $88.72. 1,095,575 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,314,264. 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 one year low of $62.44 and a one year high of $92.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.15 billion, a PE ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $87.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.68.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The asset manager reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.03. The firm 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 business's revenue was up 53.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Northern Trust will post 7.01 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, 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 value of $163,462.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,120. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Mark C. Gossett sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.90, for a total transaction of $533,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,707 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,552,052.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.12, for a total value of $163,462.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $88,120. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,738 shares of company stock worth $1,191,388. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Northern Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NTRS. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 140.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,802,792 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $489,640,000 after acquiring an additional 3,387,002 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the 1st quarter valued at about $105,665,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,413,620 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $622,596,000 after buying an additional 850,556 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 4,660.5% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 399,932 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $33,586,000 after buying an additional 391,531 shares during the period. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,046,757 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $591,787,000 after buying an additional 261,285 shares during the period. 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.