State Street (NYSE:STT) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of State Street (NYSE:STT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on STT. Morgan Stanley raised State Street from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $102.00 to $139.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of State Street from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of State Street from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on State Street from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised State Street from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.32.

State Street Stock Performance

Shares of STT stock opened at $95.42 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.07, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56. State Street has a one year low of $70.20 and a one year high of $101.91.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.14. State Street had a net margin of 9.87% and a return on equity of 12.02%. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. State Street’s quarterly revenue was up 21.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that State Street will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current year.

State Street Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. State Street’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kathryn M. Horgan sold 12,500 shares of State Street stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.97, for a total transaction of $1,224,625.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 111,042 shares in the company, valued at $10,878,784.74. The trade was a 10.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Plansky sold 13,859 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.32, for a total transaction of $1,265,603.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,032,462.56. The trade was a 20.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,460 shares of company stock worth $2,499,860. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On State Street

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of STT. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in State Street by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,169,070 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $632,111,000 after purchasing an additional 41,442 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in State Street by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,112,758 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $540,796,000 after buying an additional 833,679 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in State Street by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 5,811,415 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $514,136,000 after buying an additional 1,354,560 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in State Street by 30.6% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,282,386 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $390,897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,251 shares during the period. Finally, Metropolis Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of State Street by 3.9% during the third quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 4,286,306 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $379,209,000 after acquiring an additional 161,466 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

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.