Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $176.93 and last traded at $174.95, with a volume of 903331 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $174.84.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRS has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $159.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $155.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Northern Trust in a report on Monday, February 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.08.

Northern Trust Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.37 billion, a PE ratio of 18.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $164.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $149.93.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The asset manager reported $2.71 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 analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Northern Trust Corporation will post 10.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 33.51%.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other news, CFO David W. Fox, Jr. sold 19,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.16, for a total value of $3,321,039.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,588 shares in the company, valued at $3,088,582.08. This represents a 51.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 225 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $166.41 per share, with a total value of $37,442.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 8,145 shares in the company, valued at $1,355,409.45. This represents a 2.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold 22,800 shares of company stock worth $3,785,251 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NTRS. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

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.