14,200 Shares in State Street Corporation $STT Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in State Street, buying 14,200 shares worth about $1.8 million in the first quarter.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive, with analysts giving State Street a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $166.84, though Zacks recently downgraded the stock to hold.
• State Street reported strong first-quarter results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.84 per share, equal to a 2.0% annualized yield.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 14,200 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,797,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of STT. Regents of The University of California lifted its holdings in shares of State Street by 211.2% during the 4th quarter. Regents of The University of California now owns 8,706,195 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,123,186,000 after acquiring an additional 5,908,370 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in State Street in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $303,483,000. Pinebridge Investments LLC bought a new position in State Street in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $178,705,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in State Street by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,559,546 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $588,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in State Street by 261.0% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,217,802 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $141,277,000 after purchasing an additional 880,507 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on State Street from $168.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore set a $158.00 price target on State Street and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on State Street from $137.50 to $158.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on State Street from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded State Street from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $166.84.

State Street Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:STT opened at $169.71 on Wednesday. State Street Corporation has a 52-week low of $101.98 and a 52-week high of $175.46. The company has a market capitalization of $46.97 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company has a fifty day moving average of $158.73 and a 200-day moving average of $139.71.

State Street (NYSE:STT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. State Street had a return on equity of 14.22% and a net margin of 13.47%.State Street's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.04 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that State Street Corporation will post 12.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

State Street Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 1st. State Street's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.08%.

Insider Transactions at State Street

In related news, EVP W. Bradford Hu sold 9,212 shares of State Street stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.35, for a total transaction of $1,431,084.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 59,552 shares in the company, valued at $9,251,403.20. This trade represents a 13.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Mostapha Tahiri sold 9,611 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.93, for a total transaction of $1,469,810.23. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 64,642 shares in the company, valued at $9,885,701.06. The trade was a 12.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,876 shares of company stock valued at $5,866,583. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

State Street Profile

State Street Corporation is a global financial services company that provides a range of investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading services to institutional investors. Its principal activities include custody and fund administration, securities lending, performance and risk analytics, trading and execution services, and foreign exchange. The company also offers investment management through State Street Global Advisors, a major provider of exchange-traded funds and institutional investment strategies.

State Street serves a broad client base of asset managers, insurance companies, pension funds, endowments, and other institutions across North America, Europe, Asia and other global markets.

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