StockNews.com Downgrades State Street (NYSE:STT) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of State Street (NYSE:STT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other analysts have also commented on STT. Barclays increased their target price on shares of State Street from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on State Street from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley raised State Street from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $139.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded State Street from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of State Street from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, State Street presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.36.

State Street Price Performance

NYSE STT opened at $98.58 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. 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 12 month low of $70.20 and a 12 month high of $101.91. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.11.

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

State Street Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. State Street’s dividend payout ratio is 48.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at State Street

In related news, EVP John Plansky sold 13,859 shares of State Street stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.32, for a total value of $1,265,603.88. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn M. Horgan sold 12,500 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,460 shares of company stock worth $2,499,860 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On State Street

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of State Street during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in State Street during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of State Street in the third quarter valued at about $54,000. Tobam bought a new position in shares of State Street in the third quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of State Street during the 3rd quarter worth about $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

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.