Danske Bank A S Increases Position in State Street Corporation $STT

Key Points

• Danske Bank A/S boosted its stake in State Street by 10.1% in Q4 to 328,296 shares worth about $42.35 million, while institutional investors now own roughly 87.44% of the company.
• Several analysts have raised ratings and price targets—Morgan Stanley to $166, KBW to $175 and Argus to $168—leaving a MarketBeat consensus of Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $154.00.
• State Street topped Q1 estimates with EPS of $2.84 versus $2.64 expected and revenue of $3.80 billion (up 15.6% YoY), and it pays a quarterly dividend of $0.84 (annual $3.36, yield ~2.2%).

Danske Bank A S boosted its position in State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT - Free Report) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 328,296 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 30,202 shares during the quarter. Danske Bank A S owned 0.12% of State Street worth $42,353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in STT. Regents of The University of California purchased a new position in shares of State Street during the 3rd quarter valued at about $324,576,000. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in State Street by 261.0% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,217,802 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $141,277,000 after buying an additional 880,507 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in State Street by 36.8% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,747,646 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $318,754,000 after acquiring an additional 738,456 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in State Street during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,092,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of State Street by 157.5% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 863,666 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $100,194,000 after acquiring an additional 528,246 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of State Street in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of State Street from $155.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of State Street from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Argus upped their price target on shares of State Street from $140.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on State Street from $157.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $154.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.89, for a total transaction of $461,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,522 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,697,600.58. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Mostapha Tahiri sold 9,611 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 64,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,885,701.06. This represents 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 28,711 shares of company stock valued at $3,933,032. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

State Street Stock Performance

Shares of STT stock opened at $152.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.45. State Street Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $89.19 and a fifty-two week high of $156.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $132.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $127.18.

State Street (NYSE:STT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.20. State Street had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 14.22%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.04 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that State Street Corporation will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

State Street Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st were given a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. State Street's payout ratio is presently 34.08%.

State Street Company 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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