Davis Asset Management L.P. Invests $12.89 Million in State Street Corporation $STT

Davis Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 76,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $12,890,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in STT. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in State Street in the second quarter worth $4,139,389,000. Regents of The University of California increased its stake in State Street by 211.2% in the fourth quarter. Regents of The University of California now owns 8,706,195 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,123,186,000 after acquiring an additional 5,908,370 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in State Street during the fourth quarter valued at about $303,483,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in State Street during the second quarter valued at about $301,393,000. Finally, Pinebridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in State Street during the fourth quarter worth about $178,705,000. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

State Street Price Performance

Shares of State Street stock opened at $187.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59. State Street Corporation has a one year low of $104.64 and a one year high of $195.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.41.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The asset manager reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.34 by $0.31. State Street had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 15.02%.The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that State Street Corporation will post 13.75 EPS for the current year.

State Street Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from State Street’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. State Street’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STT has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on State Street from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of State Street from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group set a $176.00 target price on shares of State Street in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of State Street from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of State Street from $155.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.38.

Insider Activity at State Street

In other State Street news, EVP W. Bradford Hu sold 9,758 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.52, for a total value of $1,800,546.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 49,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,187,988.88. The trade was a 16.39% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.14, for a total transaction of $243,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 41,827 shares in the company, valued at $6,781,829.78. The trade was a 3.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 49,576 shares of company stock worth $8,415,875 in the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.