Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.30 EPS

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30, Zacks reports. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 10.92%.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $110.92 on Friday. Northern Trust has a one year low of $76.67 and a one year high of $111.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $105.89 and a 200-day moving average of $96.59. The company has a market capitalization of $21.99 billion, a PE ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.08. 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total value of $1,010,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 47,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,305,467. This represents a 15.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.80, for a total transaction of $529,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 49,756 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,184.80. This trade represents a 9.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,253 shares of company stock worth $3,238,073. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Northern Trust from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.75.

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.