Morgan Stanley Increases Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Price Target to $97.00

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $93.00 to $97.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 9.33% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of 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 shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Northern Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $84.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NTRS stock opened at $88.72 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $87.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.73. 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 52-week low of $62.44 and a 52-week high of $92.82. The stock has a market cap of $18.15 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.08.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The asset manager reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.03. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 10.53%. The business had revenue of $2.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.79 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 53.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Northern Trust will post 7.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $88,120. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Mark C. Gossett sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.90, for a total value of $533,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,552,052.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles A. Tribbett sold 1,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.12, for a total transaction of $163,462.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,120. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,738 shares of company stock valued at $1,191,388 over the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NTRS. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Northern Trust by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 43,713 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,608,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 1.3% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 10,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $889,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 805 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Northern Trust by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,291 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in Northern Trust by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,257 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

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.