Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $144.18 and last traded at $144.4050, with a volume of 96891 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $139.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Northern Trust from $142.00 to $139.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $135.00 target price on Northern Trust in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $136.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $135.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Five investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.92.

Northern Trust Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average is $132.70 and its 200 day moving average is $129.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.37% and a net margin of 11.99%.The company’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 37.30%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, insider John Landers sold 766 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.35, for a total transaction of $95,252.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,313 shares in the company, valued at $909,371.55. The trade was a 9.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 3,891 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director owned 6,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $859,619.02. This represents a 139.21% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NTRS. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Northern Trust by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,752 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $922,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Saranac Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the third quarter valued at about $135,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 44.8% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,522 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 39.2% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,395 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $188,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.