Zacks Research Downgrades State Street (NYSE:STT) to Hold

State Street (NYSE:STT) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on State Street from $137.50 to $158.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Barclays set a $165.00 target price on shares of State Street in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of State Street from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of State Street from $162.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of State Street from $157.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, State Street currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $159.97.

State Street Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of STT opened at $174.13 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.15. State Street has a twelve month low of $101.84 and a twelve month high of $175.46.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.20. State Street had a return on equity of 14.22% and a net margin of 13.47%.The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.04 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that State Street will post 12.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Hanley Ronald P. O sold 14,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.35, for a total transaction of $2,260,808.55. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 255,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,693,789.20. This trade represents a 5.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.14, for a total value of $243,210.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 41,827 shares in the company, valued at $6,781,829.78. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 37,876 shares of company stock worth $5,866,583 in the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STT. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of State Street in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in State Street during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Phillip James Consulting Co. acquired a new position in State Street in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in State Street in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management purchased a new position in State Street in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key State Street News

Here are the key news stories impacting State Street this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded State Street from “strong-buy” to “hold,” which can pressure sentiment by signaling less upside in the near term. Zacks.com
• Neutral Sentiment: State Street Group ceased to be a substantial holder in Digico Infrastructure REIT, indicating a reduction in disclosed ownership rather than a direct business change at State Street. State Street Group Ceases to Be Substantial Holder in Digico Infrastructure REIT
• Neutral Sentiment: State Street group exited a substantial holding in Nick Scali, another portfolio move that appears more like routine asset management than a core earnings driver. State Street group exits substantial holding in Nick Scali
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional disclosures showed State Street ceasing to be a substantial holder in Austal, Smartgroup, Aussie Broadband, Deterra Royalties, and Electro Optic Systems, reinforcing a theme of active portfolio repositioning rather than a company-specific operating issue. State Street Group Ceases to Be Substantial Holder in Austal

State Street Company Profile

State Street Corporation is a global financial services company that provides a range of investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading services to institutional investors. Its principal activities include custody and fund administration, securities lending, performance and risk analytics, trading and execution services, and foreign exchange. The company also offers investment management through State Street Global Advisors, a major provider of exchange-traded funds and institutional investment strategies.

State Street serves a broad client base of asset managers, insurance companies, pension funds, endowments, and other institutions across North America, Europe, Asia and other global markets.