State Street (NYSE:STT) Sets New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $111.59 and last traded at $111.40, with a volume of 352606 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $110.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on STT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Evercore ISI increased their price target on State Street from $102.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Cfra Research upgraded State Street from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on State Street from $127.00 to $120.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on State Street from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.00.

State Street Stock Down 0.4%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $102.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $32.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.45.

State Street (NYSE:STT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $2.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.33 billion. State Street had a return on equity of 12.96% and a net margin of 12.59%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.15 EPS. Equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. This is a positive change from State Street's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. State Street's payout ratio is currently 34.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 990 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.29, for a total transaction of $108,197.10. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Elizabeth Schaefer sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.72, for a total transaction of $117,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $667,154.88. The trade was a 15.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On State Street

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of State Street by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 339,406 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $30,387,000 after buying an additional 5,242 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in State Street by 127.3% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 30,710 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,728,000 after acquiring an additional 17,201 shares during the last quarter. Index Fund Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in State Street during the first quarter valued at about $505,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in State Street by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,186,569 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $195,764,000 after buying an additional 123,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of State Street by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 60,000 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,372,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company's stock.

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.