Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Given New $136.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its price objective lowered by Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $136.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.50.

Northern Trust Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $103.83 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $108.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.57. The stock has a market cap of $20.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. Northern Trust has a fifty-two week low of $79.30 and a fifty-two week high of $114.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Northern Trust will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total value of $2,936,191.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 26,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,987,202.96. This trade represents a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Landers sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total value of $100,296.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $851,401.60. This trade represents a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211 over the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. FMR LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $1,637,435,000 after buying an additional 1,542,685 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $83,550,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 201.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,791,000 after buying an additional 644,261 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,497,484 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $153,493,000 after buying an additional 562,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 451.9% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 555,631 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $56,866,000 after buying an additional 454,956 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.