Northern Trust Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 15,647 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 637% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,122 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NTRS shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Northern Trust from $108.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Northern Trust from $89.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $123.00 price target on shares of Northern Trust and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $118.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Clive Bellows sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.95, for a total transaction of $329,835.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 28,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,872,163.20. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Teresa Parker sold 6,467 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.62, for a total transaction of $650,709.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 79,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,988,322.42. This trade represents a 7.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,772 shares of company stock worth $981,069 in the last 90 days. 0.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northern Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NTRS. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its holdings in Northern Trust by 6,400.0% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 260 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Northern Trust by 5,340.0% in the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 272 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in Northern Trust during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 68.4% during the second quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 320 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Northern Trust in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. 83.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northern Trust Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ NTRS opened at $124.81 on Thursday. Northern Trust has a fifty-two week low of $80.81 and a fifty-two week high of $133.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.86.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 13.93%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. On average, analysts predict that Northern Trust will post 8.27 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.99%.

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.