Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on NTRS. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $142.00 to $139.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northern Trust from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.71.

Northern Trust Stock Up 0.1%

NTRS stock opened at $126.20 on Friday. Northern Trust has a one year low of $81.62 and a one year high of $135.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.13 billion, a PE ratio of 14.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $129.57 and a 200-day moving average of $118.52.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.03. Northern Trust had a net margin of 11.99% and a return on equity of 14.37%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Northern Trust will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is presently 37.30%.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 256 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $126.34 per share, with a total value of $32,343.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $319,008.50. This represents a 11.28% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NTRS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $276,087,000. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 19.5% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,793,757 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $988,170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270,748 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 2,397.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 657,026 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $83,304,000 after purchasing an additional 630,717 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 47.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,810,816 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $178,637,000 after purchasing an additional 585,992 shares during the period. Finally, Rokos Capital Management LLP purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $73,888,000. 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.