Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.75

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.75 per share by the asset manager on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th.

Northern Trust has raised its dividend payment by an average of 2.3% per year over the last three years. Northern Trust has a dividend payout ratio of 36.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Northern Trust to earn $7.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 38.3%.

Northern Trust Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:NTRS traded up $1.46 on Thursday, reaching $108.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,790,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,173,960. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $21.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.08. Northern Trust has a 12-month low of $76.67 and a 12-month high of $111.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $105.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.30.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 10.92%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Northern Trust will post 7.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Northern Trust from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Northern Trust in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.17.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In related news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.18, for a total value of $1,698,972.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,476.46. This represents a 78.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 27,874 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.50, for a total value of $2,801,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,078 shares of the company’s stock, 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 ninety days, insiders sold 82,151 shares of company stock valued at $8,489,889. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.