Baird Financial Group Inc. Purchases 9,423 Shares of State Street Co. (NYSE:STT)

Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of State Street Co. (NYSE:STT) by 37.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,419 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,423 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in State Street were worth $3,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in STT. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of State Street by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 346,252 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,633,000 after acquiring an additional 4,052 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of State Street by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,321 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,878,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of State Street by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 2,869 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC bought a new position in State Street in the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in State Street by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 63,561 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,239,000 after buying an additional 2,729 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

State Street Stock Performance

NYSE:STT opened at $93.81 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.63. The stock has a market cap of $26.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. State Street Co. has a twelve month low of $70.20 and a twelve month high of $103.00.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.30 billion. State Street had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 12.14%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.69 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that State Street Co. will post 9.68 EPS for the current year.

State Street Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. State Street’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Elizabeth Schaefer sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.72, for a total value of $117,936.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $667,154.88. This trade represents a 15.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe sold 10,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $1,081,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 100,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,002,300. This trade represents a 9.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,820 shares of company stock valued at $1,567,972. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on STT shares. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of State Street from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of State Street from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on State Street from $109.00 to $106.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays cut their target price on shares of State Street from $127.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $103.00 price target (down from $104.00) on shares of State Street in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.15.

State Street Company Profile

State Street Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of financial products and services to institutional investors worldwide. The company offers investment servicing products and services, including custody, accounting, regulatory reporting, investor, and performance and analytics; middle office products, such as IBOR, transaction management, loans, cash, derivatives and collateral, record keeping, and client reporting and investment analytics; finance leasing; foreign exchange, and brokerage and other trading services; securities finance and enhanced custody products; deposit and short-term investment facilities; investment manager and alternative investment manager operations outsourcing; performance, risk, and compliance analytics; and financial data management to support institutional investors.