Freestone Grove Partners LP Makes New Investment in State Street Corporation $STT

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 83,758 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $14,205,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of State Street in the second quarter valued at about $4,139,389,000. Regents of The University of California raised its stake in shares of State Street by 15.6% in the first quarter. Regents of The University of California now owns 10,065,118 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,273,841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358,923 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of State Street by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,222,382 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $673,740,000 after acquiring an additional 433,201 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in State Street by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,559,546 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $588,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,174 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of State Street by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,926,321 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $506,534,000 after buying an additional 67,309 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

State Street Stock Performance

STT opened at $193.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.68. State Street Corporation has a 1 year low of $104.64 and a 1 year high of $195.93. The company has a market capitalization of $53.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.41.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The asset manager reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.34 by $0.31. State Street had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 15.02%.The company had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.04 earnings per share. State Street’s revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that State Street Corporation will post 13.75 EPS for the current year.

State Street Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a $0.92 dividend. This is an increase from State Street’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. State Street’s payout ratio is currently 29.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 41,827 shares in the company, valued at $6,781,829.78. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hanley Ronald P. O sold 14,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.17, for a total value of $2,680,226.01. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 240,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,377,419.03. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,811 shares of company stock valued at $4,723,982. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on STT shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on State Street from $196.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of State Street from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on State Street from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of State Street from $195.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on State Street from $155.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, State Street has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.38.

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.