State Street Co. (NYSE:STT) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of State Street Co. (NYSE:STT) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $75.75.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on State Street from $82.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on State Street in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered State Street from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $78.50 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on State Street from $91.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on State Street from $80.00 to $72.00 in a report on Sunday, July 16th.

State Street Stock Up 1.6 %

STT stock opened at $72.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.07 billion, a PE ratio of 9.78, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.58. State Street has a twelve month low of $58.62 and a twelve month high of $94.74. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.86.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The asset manager reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. State Street had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 16.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that State Street will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

State Street Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 29th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. This is a positive change from State Street’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. State Street’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other State Street news, CFO Eric W. Aboaf sold 11,886 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.13, for a total value of $797,907.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 145,974 shares in the company, valued at $9,799,234.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of State Street

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STT. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in State Street by 29.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,505 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in shares of State Street by 14.3% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 17,756 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,547,000 after acquiring an additional 2,216 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of State Street by 3.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 280,353 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,436,000 after acquiring an additional 10,187 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new position in shares of State Street during the first quarter valued at approximately $812,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of State Street by 16.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,019,000 after acquiring an additional 3,276 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.62% 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; foreign exchange, and brokerage and other trading services; securities finance and enhanced custody products; deposit and short-term investment facilities; loans and lease financing; investment manager and alternative investment manager operations outsourcing; performance, risk, and compliance analytics; and financial data management to support institutional investors.