Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,300,000 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the February 13th total of 2,760,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other news, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total value of $251,828.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,918,883.88. This represents a 11.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $429,852.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,242,722. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211 in the last ninety days. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,061 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,286,000 after buying an additional 4,374 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Northern Trust by 9.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,296,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $386,809,000 after acquiring an additional 388,692 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in Northern Trust by 68.1% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,239,000 after acquiring an additional 5,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Northern Trust by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $129,909,000 after acquiring an additional 8,102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on NTRS. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.50.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTRS traded down $0.40 on Tuesday, hitting $98.28. 1,062,291 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,171,603. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $107.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Northern Trust has a 52-week low of $79.32 and a 52-week high of $114.67. The company has a market capitalization of $19.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 13.74%. Equities analysts expect that Northern Trust will post 8.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is presently 30.67%.

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.