Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Northern Trust from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.67.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS stock opened at $107.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $95.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.06. Northern Trust has a 12 month low of $73.98 and a 12 month high of $108.53.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.31%.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other news, EVP Mark C. Gossett sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,552,052.30. The trade was a 17.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.18, for a total value of $1,698,972.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,476.46. This represents a 78.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 80,906 shares of company stock worth $8,176,652. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Northern Trust in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 343.9% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 435 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

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.