Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec Reduces Holdings in State Street Corporation $STT

Key Points

• The Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec reduced its stake in State Street Corporation by 6.6%, selling 3,063 shares and leaving it with a total of 43,200 shares valued at approximately $3.87 million.
• Analysts have raised target prices for State Street, with Citigroup and Evercore ISI both setting prices at $115.00, while the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• State Street announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.76 to $0.84 per share, with the next payment scheduled for October 14th, reflecting a dividend yield of 2.9%.

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec decreased its stake in State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT - Free Report) by 6.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,200 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 3,063 shares during the quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec's holdings in State Street were worth $3,868,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of STT. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of State Street by 9.0% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,184,690 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $732,775,000 after purchasing an additional 674,120 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of State Street by 2.8% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,264,161 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $381,770,000 after purchasing an additional 115,751 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of State Street by 0.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,068,867 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $274,732,000 after purchasing an additional 14,011 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its holdings in State Street by 6,967.4% during the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 2,989,452 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $267,646,000 after buying an additional 2,947,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in State Street by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,696,326 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $241,403,000 after buying an additional 387,196 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other State Street news, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 990 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.29, for a total value of $108,197.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 41,332 shares in the company, valued at $4,517,174.28. This trade represents a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

State Street Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of STT traded down $1.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $112.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,598,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,584,270. The company's 50-day moving average is $111.02 and its 200-day moving average is $98.52. State Street Corporation has a 52-week low of $72.81 and a 52-week high of $116.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

State Street (NYSE:STT - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $3.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.33 billion. State Street had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 12.96%. The company's revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.15 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that State Street Corporation will post 9.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

State Street Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is an increase from State Street's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. State Street's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on STT. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on State Street from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on State Street from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup upgraded State Street from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $130.00 in a report on Friday. Cfra Research upgraded State Street from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on State Street from $113.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, State Street currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $114.18.

About State Street

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.