BMO Capital Markets Initiates Coverage on Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS)

BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) in a report issued on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a market perform rating and a $142.00 price objective on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on NTRS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective (down from $120.00) on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.23.

Northern Trust Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $132.40 on Friday. Northern Trust has a 52 week low of $81.62 and a 52 week high of $135.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.59. The firm has a market cap of $25.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.31.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 11.75%.The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.34 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 26.4% 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.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Northern Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 256 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $126.34 per share, with a total value of $32,343.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,525 shares in the company, valued at $319,008.50. This represents a 11.28% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 29,132 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,694,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Welch Group LLC increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 3,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,062 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,032 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Twin Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,071 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.