Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Buys New Holdings in State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT)

Key Points

• Empirical Financial Services LLC acquired 17,025 shares of State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT), valued at approximately $1,524,000, indicating institutional interest in the stock.
• State Street recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.84 per share, up from $0.76, reflecting a strong dividend policy with a yield of 3.1%.
• Equity analysts have mixed views on State Street, with target price changes ranging from $98 to $122 and a consensus rating of "Hold" from analysts.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 17,025 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,524,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STT. First Pacific Financial acquired a new stake in State Street during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in State Street by 40.8% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 407 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its position in State Street by 2,942.9% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 426 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in State Street by 186.7% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 476 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of State Street by 98.4% during the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 506 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on STT shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of State Street from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on State Street from $102.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on State Street from $118.00 to $113.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Cfra Research raised State Street from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on State Street from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 990 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.29, for a total transaction of $108,197.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 41,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,517,174.28. This represents a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Elizabeth Schaefer sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.72, for a total value of $117,936.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $667,154.88. This represents a 15.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

State Street Trading Up 1.1%

STT stock traded up $1.21 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $109.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,171,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,437,742. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $31.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.48. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $104.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.17. State Street Corporation has a 52 week low of $72.81 and a 52 week high of $114.28.

State Street (NYSE:STT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $2.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.33 billion. State Street had a return on equity of 12.96% and a net margin of 12.59%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that State Street Corporation will post 9.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

State Street Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. This is an increase from State Street's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. State Street's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.04%.

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; 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.