State Street (NYSE:STT) Reaches New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• State Street shares reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as $194.82 and recently changing hands near $193.87.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $185.38; Wells Fargo raised its target to $215 and Zacks upgraded the stock to “strong buy.”
• State Street exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, while its quarterly dividend rose from $0.84 to $0.92 per share, implying a 1.9% annualized yield.

State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $194.82 and last traded at $193.8670, with a volume of 83442 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $191.74.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on STT shares. UBS Group set a $176.00 target price on shares of State Street in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of State Street in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of State Street from $196.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of State Street from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of State Street from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, State Street presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $185.38.

State Street Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $177.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $151.88. The firm has a market cap of $53.15 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.41.

State Street (NYSE:STT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The asset manager reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.31. State Street had a net margin of 15.02% and a return on equity of 15.26%. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that State Street Corporation will post 13.75 EPS for the current year.

State Street Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This is a boost from State Street's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. State Street's dividend payout ratio is 29.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other State Street news, CEO Hanley Ronald P. O sold 14,553 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.17, for a total transaction of $2,680,226.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 240,959 shares in the company, valued at $44,377,419.03. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.14, for a total value of $243,210.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 41,827 shares in the company, valued at $6,781,829.78. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 49,576 shares of company stock valued at $8,415,875 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On State Street

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of State Street in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in State Street during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in State Street during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Phillip James Consulting Co. bought a new stake in State Street in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in State Street by 153.6% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 175 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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