Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $105.00.

Several research firms recently commented on NTRS. Morgan Stanley raised Northern Trust from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $103.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $84.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Northern Trust Stock Down 0.4 %

NTRS stock traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $104.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,990,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,303,318. The firm's 50-day moving average is $103.30 and its 200-day moving average is $92.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Northern Trust has a 12 month low of $76.67 and a 12 month high of $111.87. The company has a market cap of $20.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.07.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Northern Trust's payout ratio is currently 37.31%.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, insider Teresa Parker sold 4,439 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.86, for a total value of $447,717.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 79,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,000,820.36. This represents a 5.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.80, for a total value of $529,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 49,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,264,184.80. This represents a 9.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 82,151 shares of company stock valued at $8,489,889 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Northern Trust during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the third quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the third quarter worth about $51,000. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.