Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Upgraded to “Neutral” at The Goldman Sachs Group

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) was upgraded by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $151.00 target price on the asset manager’s stock, up from their previous target price of $148.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 6.15% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on NTRS. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $136.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup began coverage on Northern Trust in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Zacks Research raised Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northern Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.55.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $142.25 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Northern Trust has a 52-week low of $81.62 and a 52-week high of $157.60. The stock has a market cap of $26.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $143.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.29.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 14.87% and a net margin of 12.15%.The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. Northern Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Northern Trust will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In related news, Director Richard Petrino bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $148.91 per share, for a total transaction of $148,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,332 shares in the company, valued at $496,168.12. This trade represents a 42.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Clive Bellows sold 1,148 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.26, for a total transaction of $166,758.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,133 shares in the company, valued at $4,958,159.58. This trade represents a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 34,905 shares of company stock worth $5,166,714 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 400,809 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $55,154,000 after buying an additional 15,221 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 76.1% in the fourth quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 4,293 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $642,000 after purchasing an additional 1,855 shares during the period. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Northern Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $232,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Company Profile

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.