Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Given New $93.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its price target reduced by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $93.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 3.74% from the stock’s current price.

NTRS has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Northern Trust from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.33.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTRS traded up $1.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $89.65. 95,711 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,369,969. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. Northern Trust has a fifty-two week low of $62.44 and a fifty-two week high of $92.46.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The asset manager reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 10.53%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 53.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Northern Trust will post 7.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Peter Cherecwich sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.09, for a total transaction of $1,045,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,740,809.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Peter Cherecwich sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.09, for a total transaction of $1,045,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,740,809.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Steven L. Fradkin sold 4,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.56, for a total value of $338,248.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,078 shares in the company, valued at $3,804,199.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northern Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,891,902 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $581,539,000 after purchasing an additional 394,855 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,533,855 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $551,327,000 after acquiring an additional 1,553,783 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 140.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,802,792 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $489,640,000 after acquiring an additional 3,387,002 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,771,463 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $149,485,000 after acquiring an additional 8,724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $105,665,000. 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.