Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Price Target Lowered to $132.00 at Morgan Stanley

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its price target decreased by Morgan Stanley from $136.00 to $132.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on NTRS. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $113.00 to $104.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $119.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.69.

Northern Trust Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $98.73 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $106.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.11. The company has a market capitalization of $19.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. 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 has a 52 week low of $79.32 and a 52 week high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Northern Trust will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.67%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,242,722. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. The trade was a 49.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in Northern Trust by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Ellevest Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 3,410 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 4,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is currently 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.