Brokerages Set Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Price Target at $107.17

Shares of Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $107.17.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Northern Trust from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.18, for a total value of $1,698,972.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,476.46. The trade was a 78.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total transaction of $1,010,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 47,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,305,467. This represents a 15.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 82,151 shares of company stock worth $8,489,889 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. FMR LLC grew 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 boosted its position in 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 worth $622,596,000 after purchasing an additional 850,556 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 9.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $386,809,000 after purchasing an additional 388,692 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 3.9% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,046,757 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $591,787,000 after buying an additional 261,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,003,675 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $168,253,000 after buying an additional 219,387 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NTRS opened at $106.12 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.04 billion, a PE ratio of 13.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50-day moving average is $105.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.42. Northern Trust has a 1 year low of $76.67 and a 1 year high of $111.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.31%.

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.