BlackRock Inc. Makes New Investment in State Street Corporation $STT

Key Points

• BlackRock acquired 24.4 million State Street shares during the second quarter, worth approximately $4.14 billion, giving it an 8.88% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 87.44% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.38; several firms recently raised their targets to as high as $215.
• State Street reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with $3.65 in adjusted EPS and $4.05 billion in revenue, while increasing its quarterly dividend from $0.84 to $0.92 per share. Insiders, however, sold approximately $8.4 million in stock during the last quarter.

BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 24,406,776 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $4,139,389,000. BlackRock Inc. owned approximately 8.88% of State Street at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new position in State Street in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of State Street in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in State Street in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Phillip James Consulting Co. acquired a new stake in State Street during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of State Street by 153.6% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 175 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on STT. Barclays increased their target price on shares of State Street from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on State Street from $196.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of State Street from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Evercore set a $200.00 target price on shares of State Street in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of State Street from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $185.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP W. Bradford Hu sold 9,758 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.52, for a total value of $1,800,546.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 49,794 shares in the company, valued at $9,187,988.88. This represents a 16.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Hanley Ronald P. O sold 14,553 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.17, for a total transaction of $2,680,226.01. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 240,959 shares in the company, valued at $44,377,419.03. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 49,576 shares of company stock worth $8,415,875 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

State Street Price Performance

Shares of STT opened at $192.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59. State Street Corporation has a 52-week low of $104.64 and a 52-week high of $195.18. The business's 50 day moving average price is $178.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.80. The firm has a market cap of $52.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.41.

State Street (NYSE:STT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The asset manager reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.31. State Street had a net margin of 15.02% and a return on equity of 15.26%. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that State Street Corporation will post 13.75 EPS for the current year.

State Street Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is a boost from State Street's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. State Street's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.63%.

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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