Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Hits New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $115.15 and last traded at $113.83, with a volume of 513 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $113.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTRS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.58.

Northern Trust Price Performance

The company's 50-day simple moving average is $106.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Northern Trust Co. will post 8.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust's dividend payout ratio is 30.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total transaction of $2,936,191.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. The trade was a 49.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total value of $1,010,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 47,797 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,305,467. The trade was a 15.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,631 shares of company stock worth $4,550,459 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NTRS. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,637,435,000 after buying an additional 1,542,685 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 201.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $98,791,000 after purchasing an additional 644,261 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 9.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in Northern Trust by 62.8% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 678,461 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $69,542,000 after acquiring an additional 261,797 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 93,421.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 185,172 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $152,194,000 after purchasing an additional 184,974 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northern Trust Company Profile

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.