Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) saw a significant 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 shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Northern Trust Price Performance

Shares of NTRS traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $98.28. 1,062,291 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,171,603. Northern Trust has a 12 month low of $79.32 and a 12 month high of $114.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $19.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.32.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 EPS for the current year.

Northern Trust Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jane Karpinski sold 2,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.33, for a total value of $251,828.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,918,883.88. The trade was a 11.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 3,804 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $429,852.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,242,722. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,970,211 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 355,732 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $36,463,000 after buying an additional 5,022 shares during the last quarter. 111 Capital bought a new stake in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $503,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,800 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,030,000 after purchasing an additional 3,993 shares in the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH bought a new stake in Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,152,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Northern Trust in the fourth quarter worth $26,784,000. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NTRS. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays increased 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.50.

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.