The Goldman Sachs Group Lowers Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) to Sell

The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $82.00 target price on the asset manager’s stock, down from their prior target price of $84.00.

NTRS has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Northern Trust from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Northern Trust from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $89.42.

Northern Trust Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NTRS opened at $90.07 on Thursday. Northern Trust has a 52-week low of $62.44 and a 52-week high of $92.82. The company has a market capitalization of $18.43 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The asset manager reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.03. The company 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%. Northern Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Northern Trust will post 7.01 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 66.23%.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In other news, EVP Teresa Parker sold 5,883 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $494,524.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 83,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,041,285.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Mark C. Gossett sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.90, for a total transaction of $533,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,552,052.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Teresa Parker sold 5,883 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $494,524.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 83,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,041,285.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,738 shares of company stock worth $1,191,388 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bayesian Capital Management LP increased its position in Northern Trust by 986.3% during the 4th quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 37,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,198,000 after buying an additional 34,411 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 6.8% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 360,640 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,111,000 after acquiring an additional 23,020 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 557.8% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30,813 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,740,000 after acquiring an additional 26,129 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 668.0% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 20,205 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 17,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 4.3% in the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 602,785 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $53,600,000 after purchasing an additional 24,791 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

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.