Flputnam Investment Management Co. Buys New Shares in State Street Corporation $STT

Key Points

• Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired 16,370 shares of State Street Corporation, valued at approximately $1.47 million, indicating growing institutional interest in the asset manager.
• Several research firms have recently upgraded their target prices for State Street, with Evercore ISI raising it from $102 to $115, reflecting strong market confidence.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.76 to $0.84, indicating financial strength with a current dividend yield of 2.9%.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 16,370 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,466,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on STT shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of State Street from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of State Street from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Cfra Research raised shares of State Street from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of State Street from $113.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of State Street from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, State Street presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $114.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 990 shares of the company'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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 41,332 shares in the company, valued at $4,517,174.28. This represents a 2.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

State Street Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE STT traded down $1.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $112.99. 2,598,760 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,513,550. 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's 50 day moving average is $111.02 and its 200 day moving average is $98.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.50. State Street Corporation has a one year low of $72.81 and a one year high of $116.37.

State Street (NYSE:STT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $2.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.15 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that State Street Corporation will post 9.68 EPS for the current year.

State Street Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Investors 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 represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is an increase from State Street's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. State Street's payout ratio is currently 34.04%.

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.