Aberdeen Group plc Cuts Stock Holdings in State Street Corporation $STT

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc has reduced its stake in State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) by 54.6%, selling 301,744 shares, leaving it with 250,571 shares valued at approximately $22.2 million.
• Analysts have set new price targets for State Street, with ratings ranging from "underperform" at $109.00 to "buy" at $125.00, indicating a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $112.82.
• State Street has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.84, representing a 3.0% yield, and this marks an increase from the previous dividend of $0.76.

Aberdeen Group plc lessened its holdings in State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT - Free Report) by 54.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 250,571 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 301,744 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.09% of State Street worth $22,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in State Street by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,756 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $515,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in State Street by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,414 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. 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. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in State Street by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,157 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in State Street by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,921 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $530,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of State Street from $113.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Cfra Research raised shares of State Street from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of State Street from $102.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of State Street from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, State Street presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.82.

State Street Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:STT traded up $3.0010 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $115.3610. The company had a trading volume of 2,144,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,591,367. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $108.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.47. State Street Corporation has a one year low of $72.81 and a one year high of $115.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $32.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48.

State Street (NYSE:STT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $2.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. State Street had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 12.96%. State Street's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that State Street Corporation will post 9.68 EPS for the current year.

State Street Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This is a boost from State Street's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. State Street's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other State Street news, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 990 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.29, for a total transaction of $108,197.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 41,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,517,174.28. The trade was a 2.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

State Street 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.