Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Purchases 56,078 Shares of State Street Corporation $STT

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC significantly increased its stake in State Street Corporation by 1,087.2%, acquiring an additional 56,078 shares, bringing its total to 61,236 shares worth $5,482,000.
• State Street's quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $2.53 EPS against an estimate of $2.36, with revenue also exceeding forecasts at $3.47 billion.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.76 to $0.84 per share, reflecting a positive outlook for investors.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT - Free Report) by 1,087.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,236 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 56,078 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in State Street were worth $5,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in STT. First Pacific Financial acquired a new position in State Street during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of State Street by 40.8% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 407 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its stake in State Street by 2,942.9% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 426 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in State Street by 186.7% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 476 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in State Street by 98.4% in the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 506 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.44% of the company's stock.

State Street Stock Up 2.4%

STT stock traded up $2.7350 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $115.0950. 849,768 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,064,874. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. State Street Corporation has a 52 week low of $72.81 and a 52 week high of $115.15. The company has a market cap of $32.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $108.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.36.

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

State Street Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from State Street's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. State Street's dividend payout ratio is 34.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on STT. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of State Street from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of State Street from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of State Street from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on State Street from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on State Street from $113.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, State Street presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.82.

Insider Transactions at State Street

In other news, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 990 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owned 41,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,517,174.28. This trade represents a 2.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

State Street Company 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.