Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on NTRS. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Northern Trust from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.46.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NTRS opened at $140.14 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $131.57 and a 200-day moving average of $128.65. The company has a market cap of $26.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. Northern Trust has a 1 year low of $81.62 and a 1 year high of $141.25.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.03. Northern Trust had a net margin of 11.99% and a return on equity of 14.37%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. Northern Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Northern Trust will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Susan Cohen Levy sold 27,591 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.13, for a total value of $3,535,234.83. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 48,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,183,169.41. This represents a 36.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 3,891 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $128.57 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.87. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 6,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $859,619.02. The trade was a 139.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,593,674 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,864,652,000 after acquiring an additional 188,472 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,493,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,285,236,000 after purchasing an additional 97,584 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,793,757 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $988,170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270,748 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Northern Trust by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,196,659 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $656,229,000 after purchasing an additional 184,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,501,628 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $443,971,000 after buying an additional 58,029 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ: NTRS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in Chicago that provides asset servicing, asset management and wealth management solutions to institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals. The company’s core businesses include custody and fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, trust and fiduciary services, private banking, and retirement and defined contribution plan services.

Northern Trust’s product and service offerings span custody and fund accounting, portfolio and performance analytics, securities lending, cash management and foreign exchange, as well as discretionary and non-discretionary investment management.