1620 Investment Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in State Street Co. (NYSE:STT)

1620 Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of State Street Co. (NYSE:STT) by 53.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 519 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in State Street were worth $51,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of State Street during the 4th quarter valued at $272,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of State Street by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,874,936 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $184,025,000 after buying an additional 10,404 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of State Street by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 74,268 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,289,000 after buying an additional 7,446 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of State Street during the 4th quarter valued at $395,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in State Street in the 4th quarter worth $44,070,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at State Street

In related news, EVP Ann Fogarty sold 3,705 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.47, for a total transaction of $368,536.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 50,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,054,667.52. This represents a 6.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe sold 10,815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $1,081,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 100,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,002,300. The trade was a 9.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

State Street Price Performance

Shares of STT opened at $90.63 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $95.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.16. State Street Co. has a fifty-two week low of $70.20 and a fifty-two week high of $103.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.00, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The asset manager reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.31. State Street had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.04 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that State Street Co. will post 9.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

State Street Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. State Street’s payout ratio is presently 36.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of State Street from $108.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of State Street from $142.00 to $139.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of State Street from $108.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $103.00 price target (down previously from $104.00) on shares of State Street in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of State Street from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.20.

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.