Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on NTRS. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Northern Trust from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Northern Trust from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Northern Trust from $159.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Northern Trust from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Northern Trust from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.08.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $162.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $149.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. Northern Trust has a 1 year low of $104.09 and a 1 year high of $173.18.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.84%.Northern Trust’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust will post 10.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Guy Gibson sold 3,009 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.39, for a total transaction of $428,451.51. Following the sale, the insider owned 29,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,176,583.48. This trade represents a 9.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total value of $3,321,039.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,088,582.08. The trade was a 51.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 30,514 shares of company stock worth $4,890,937 in the last ninety days. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northern Trust

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 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.