Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Upgraded at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $127.00 target price on the asset manager’s stock, up from their prior target price of $103.00.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.00.

Northern Trust Stock Down 2.8 %

NTRS stock opened at $105.15 on Monday. Northern Trust has a 52 week low of $76.67 and a 52 week high of $111.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $20.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.07.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 37.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 27,874 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.50, for a total transaction of $2,801,337.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,630,839. This trade represents a 37.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.12, for a total transaction of $163,462.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,120. The trade was a 64.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 84,006 shares of company stock valued at $8,653,352 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,542,685 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 13.0% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,413,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $622,596,000 after purchasing an additional 850,556 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,085,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $637,873,000 after purchasing an additional 38,360 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,644,205 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $222,060,000 after buying an additional 91,816 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Northern Trust by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,003,675 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $168,253,000 after buying an additional 219,387 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.