Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Price Target Raised to $102.00

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its price objective raised by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $92.00 to $102.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sell” rating on the asset manager’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price points to a potential downside of 6.88% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Northern Trust from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.83.

Northern Trust Stock Up 2.0 %

Northern Trust stock opened at $109.54 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Northern Trust has a fifty-two week low of $76.67 and a fifty-two week high of $111.87.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 12.75%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust will post 7.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were 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 directly owns 49,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,264,184.80. This trade represents a 9.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total value of $1,010,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 47,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,305,467. This trade represents a 15.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 30,253 shares of company stock valued at $3,238,073. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northern Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,637,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,685 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 0.5% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,085,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $637,873,000 after purchasing an additional 38,360 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $386,809,000 after buying an additional 388,692 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,577,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $141,986,000 after buying an additional 16,500 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 201.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,791,000 after acquiring an additional 644,261 shares during the period. 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.