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

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $110.39 and last traded at $109.75, with a volume of 40722 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $109.46.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTRS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.67.

Northern Trust Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $21.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $98.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.13.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 37.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.12, for a total value of $163,462.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,120. This trade represents a 64.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 27,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.50, for a total transaction of $2,801,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,078 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,630,839. This trade represents a 37.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 74,906 shares of company stock valued at $7,643,252. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Trust

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. FMR LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,542,685 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Northern Trust by 13.0% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,413,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $622,596,000 after purchasing an additional 850,556 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Northern Trust by 4,660.5% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 399,932 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,586,000 after buying an additional 391,531 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its position in Northern Trust by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,046,757 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $591,787,000 after buying an additional 261,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,003,675 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $168,253,000 after buying an additional 219,387 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northern Trust Company Profile

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.