State Street (NYSE:STT) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• State Street hit a new 52-week high after JPMorgan raised its price target from $158.50 to $176.50, with the stock trading as high as $175.80 intraday.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with the stock holding an average “Moderate Buy” rating and an average target price of $169.72 despite some mixed recent calls.
• The company recently posted strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.84 per share payable on July 13.

State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $158.50 to $176.50. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. State Street traded as high as $175.80 and last traded at $175.5480, with a volume of 1182971 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $170.69.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of State Street from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on State Street from $166.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on State Street from $168.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of State Street in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of State Street from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $169.72.

Insider Activity at State Street

In related news, COO Mostapha Tahiri sold 9,611 shares of State Street stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.93, for a total transaction of $1,469,810.23. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 64,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,885,701.06. This trade represents a 12.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP W. Bradford Hu sold 9,212 shares of State Street stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.35, for a total value of $1,431,084.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 59,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,251,403.20. This represents a 13.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 37,876 shares of company stock worth $5,866,583 over the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On State Street

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in State Street in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of State Street during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Phillip James Consulting Co. acquired a new position in State Street in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in State Street during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of State Street in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company's stock.

State Street Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $159.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $140.59. The firm has a market cap of $48.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.42.

State Street (NYSE:STT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. State Street had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 14.22%. State Street's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. On average, analysts expect that State Street Corporation will post 12.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

State Street Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. State Street's payout ratio is 34.08%.

About State Street

State Street Corporation is a global financial services company that provides a range of investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading services to institutional investors. Its principal activities include custody and fund administration, securities lending, performance and risk analytics, trading and execution services, and foreign exchange. The company also offers investment management through State Street Global Advisors, a major provider of exchange-traded funds and institutional investment strategies.

State Street serves a broad client base of asset managers, insurance companies, pension funds, endowments, and other institutions across North America, Europe, Asia and other global markets.

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