Northern Trust jumps as Q1 earnings beat highlights operating leverage and aggressive capital return

Northern Trust Corporation (NTRS) is up 7.4% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The move appears tied to Northern Trust’s first-quarter 2026 earnings release, which showed sharply higher EPS and revenue growth alongside strong operating leverage. Investors may also be reacting to the company’s sizable shareholder returns during the quarter (dividends plus buybacks).

Details:

Northern Trust reported first-quarter net income of $525.5 million and diluted EPS of $2.71.

Total revenue (fully taxable equivalent) was $2.213 billion, up 14% year over year, supported by higher servicing fees, net interest income, and other noninterest income.

The company highlighted more than 700 basis points of positive operating leverage and a 32% pre-tax margin (FTE).

Northern Trust disclosed a 100% total payout ratio in the quarter, including $150.8 million of common dividends declared and $358.9 million of common stock repurchased.

Sources:

Northern Trust

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$NTRS Insider Trading Activity

$NTRS insiders have traded $NTRS stock on the open market 16 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 4 have been purchases and 12 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $NTRS stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

PETER CHERECWICH (Chief Operating Officer) sold 25,000 shares for an estimated $3,740,500
SUSAN COHEN LEVY (EVP and General Counsel) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 27,591 shares for an estimated $3,535,325.
STEVEN L FRADKIN (Vice Chairman) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 9,376 shares for an estimated $1,200,128.
THOMAS A SOUTH (Executive Vice President) sold 5,000 shares for an estimated $695,150
DAVID W JR FOX (EVP & Chief Financial Officer) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 4,705 shares for an estimated $677,234.
GUY GIBSON (Co-President Asset Servicing) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 4,052 shares for an estimated $582,221.
ROBERT EDWARD JR. MORITZ has made 3 purchases buying 4,406 shares for an estimated $571,667 and 0 sales.
CLIVE BELLOWS (Co-President Asset Servicing) sold 1,148 shares for an estimated $166,758
RICHARD PETRINO purchased 1,000 shares for an estimated $148,910
JOHN LANDERS (Controller) sold 766 shares for an estimated $95,252

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.

EARLY ACCESS

Receive NTRS Data Alerts

Real-time alerts on filings, insider trades, and market signals — before everyone else.

Get Alerts →

$NTRS Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 370 institutional investors add shares of $NTRS stock to their portfolio, and 389 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

UBS AM, A DISTINCT BUSINESS UNIT OF UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC removed 4,822,570 shares (-76.2%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $658,714,836
FMR LLC removed 1,815,814 shares (-11.6%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $248,022,034
FIRST TRUST ADVISORS LP removed 1,059,751 shares (-55.1%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $144,751,389
PRIMECAP MANAGEMENT CO/CA/ removed 933,650 shares (-12.4%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $127,527,253
AQR CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC added 703,985 shares (+69.0%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $96,157,311
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO removed 659,981 shares (-57.0%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $90,146,804
CITADEL ADVISORS LLC removed 614,079 shares (-76.8%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $83,877,050

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.

$NTRS Congressional Stock Trading

Members of Congress have traded $NTRS stock 3 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 1 have been purchases and 2 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $NTRS stock by members of Congress over the last 6 months:

REPRESENTATIVE LISA C. MCCLAIN has traded it 3 times. They made 1 purchase worth up to $15,000 on 10/30 and 2 sales worth up to $30,000 on 10/31, 10/30.

To track congressional stock trading, check out Quiver Quantitative's congressional trading dashboard.

$NTRS Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $NTRS recently. We have seen 10 analysts offer price targets for $NTRS in the last 6 months, with a median target of $157.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Brennan Hawken from BMO Capital set a target price of $168.0 on 04/06/2026
Alexander Blostein from Goldman Sachs set a target price of $151.0 on 04/06/2026
David Smith from Truist Securities set a target price of $155.0 on 04/01/2026
Emily Ericksen from Citigroup set a target price of $162.0 on 01/28/2026
Steven Alexopoulos from TD Cowen set a target price of $175.0 on 01/26/2026
Glenn Schorr from Evercore ISI Group set a target price of $155.0 on 01/23/2026
Gerard Cassidy from RBC Capital set a target price of $159.0 on 01/23/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.