Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Earns Neutral Rating from Analysts at Citigroup

Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning. The brokerage issued a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $139.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $136.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $148.75.

Northern Trust Trading Up 3.1%

Northern Trust stock opened at $145.74 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $27.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.27. Northern Trust has a 1 year low of $81.62 and a 1 year high of $157.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $145.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.87% and a net margin of 12.15%.The business’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Northern Trust will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 245 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $151.85 per share, with a total value of $37,203.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 6,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,052,472.35. The trade was a 3.66% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Guy Gibson sold 1,043 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.43, for a total value of $153,769.49. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 35,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,161,966.59. The trade was a 2.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 27,191 shares of company stock worth $4,061,028 over the last 90 days. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in Northern Trust in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 5,225.0% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 213 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Northern Trust by 87.4% in the second quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 208 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new position in Northern Trust during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

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.