State Street (NYSE:STT) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of State Street (NYSE:STT) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of State Street from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of State Street from $136.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of State Street in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of State Street from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of State Street from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.77.

State Street Price Performance

STT stock opened at $128.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $35.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.43. State Street has a 12 month low of $72.81 and a 12 month high of $137.05. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $125.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $117.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 16th. The asset manager reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.57 billion. State Street had a net margin of 13.02% and a return on equity of 13.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that State Street will post 9.68 earnings per share for the current year.

State Street Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. State Street’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.24, for a total transaction of $175,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,626 shares in the company, valued at $4,528,512.24. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of State Street

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in State Street by 4.7% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,566,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $910,934,000 after acquiring an additional 381,547 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its holdings in shares of State Street by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 7,412,414 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $788,236,000 after purchasing an additional 80,855 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of State Street by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,412,130 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $784,930,000 after purchasing an additional 27,098 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of State Street by 3.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,859,012 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $447,684,000 after purchasing an additional 137,049 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in State Street by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,829,271 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $367,041,000 after buying an additional 377,568 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About State Street

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.