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

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 $109.54 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62, 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 current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Northern Trust has a 12 month low of $76.67 and a 12 month high of $111.87.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.31%.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In related news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.80, for a total transaction of $529,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 49,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,264,184.80. This represents a 9.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.18, for a total transaction of $1,698,972.54. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,476.46. This trade represents a 78.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,253 shares of company stock valued at $3,238,073 in the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lifted 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. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Northern Trust in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.58.

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.