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

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

NTRS has been the subject of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.67.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $110.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $21.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $98.99 and a 200-day moving average of $90.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Northern Trust has a 52 week low of $75.70 and a 52 week high of $111.57.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.80, for a total value of $529,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 49,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,264,184.80. The trade was a 9.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.12, for a total value of $163,462.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,120. This 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 over the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northern Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 343.9% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 435 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

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.