State Street (NYSE:STT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on State Street from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of State Street from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of State Street from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of State Street from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on State Street from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, State Street currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.36.

State Street Price Performance

State Street stock opened at $98.20 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. State Street has a 52-week low of $70.20 and a 52-week high of $101.91. The firm has a market cap of $28.79 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s 50 day moving average is $95.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.13.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.14. State Street had a return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 9.87%. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that State Street will post 8.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

State Street Dividend Announcement

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 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. State Street’s payout ratio is currently 48.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,032,462.56. This represents a 20.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn M. Horgan sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.97, for a total value of $1,224,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 111,042 shares in the company, valued at $10,878,784.74. This trade represents a 10.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,460 shares of company stock worth $2,499,860 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of State Street

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of State Street by 0.4% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 81,472 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,029,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of State Street by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 184,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,634,000 after acquiring an additional 3,278 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of State Street in the second quarter valued at about $248,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of State Street during the second quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in State Street by 202.7% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 993 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About State Street

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.