Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on NTRS. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.67.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NTRS stock opened at $111.16 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.83, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $99.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.59. Northern Trust has a 52-week low of $76.67 and a 52-week high of $111.87.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Susan Cohen Levy sold 19,585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.26, for a total value of $2,002,762.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,751,918.32. This represents a 53.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.12, for a total value of $163,462.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $88,120. This trade represents a 64.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,906 shares of company stock worth $7,643,252 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 9.3% during the third 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,413,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $622,596,000 after acquiring an additional 850,556 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 4,660.5% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 399,932 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,586,000 after purchasing an additional 391,531 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,046,757 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $591,787,000 after purchasing an additional 261,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 12.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,003,675 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $168,253,000 after purchasing an additional 219,387 shares in the last quarter. 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.