Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,060,000 shares, a decrease of 16.9% from the March 15th total of 2,480,000 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other news, insider Steven L. Fradkin sold 30,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $2,434,703.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 55,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,462,687.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 10,566.7% in the fourth quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 320 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Northern Trust by 77.8% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 361 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Northern Trust by 94.1% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 359 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Northern Trust by 84.5% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 393 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northern Trust Price Performance

NASDAQ NTRS opened at $83.83 on Friday. Northern Trust has a 52 week low of $62.44 and a 52 week high of $90.30. The company has a market cap of $17.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.56.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.81). Northern Trust had a return on equity of 12.44% and a net margin of 9.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Northern Trust will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 59.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on NTRS. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $72.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Northern Trust from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Northern Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.09.

About Northern Trust

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.