State Street Corporation $STT Shares Purchased by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in State Street Corporation by 18.1% in the second quarter, bringing their total shares to 61,884, valued at approximately $6.83 million.
• State Street recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.76 to $0.84, with an ex-dividend date of October 1st, representing a 3.0% yield.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for State Street, with eight analysts recommending a buy and an average target price of $114.18.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT - Free Report) by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,884 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 9,501 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in State Street were worth $6,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in State Street by 9.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,184,690 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $732,775,000 after acquiring an additional 674,120 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings 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 worth $381,770,000 after purchasing an additional 115,751 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings 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 worth $274,732,000 after purchasing an additional 14,011 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its holdings 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 worth $267,646,000 after purchasing an additional 2,947,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in State Street by 1.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,713,415 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $242,932,000 after purchasing an additional 49,353 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on STT. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of State Street from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup raised shares of State Street from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $130.00 in a report on Friday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of State Street from $113.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of State Street from $102.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of State Street from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other State Street 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 value of $108,197.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 41,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,517,174.28. This trade represents a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

State Street Stock Performance

NYSE:STT opened at $112.95 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $111.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $99.89. State Street Corporation has a 1-year low of $72.81 and a 1-year high of $116.37. 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 firm has a market cap of $32.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.50.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.17. State Street had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 12.96%. The firm had revenue of $3.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. State Street's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side 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 given a $0.84 dividend. This is a positive change from State Street's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. State Street's payout ratio is 34.04%.

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.

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