1,950,759 Shares in State Street Corporation $STT Acquired by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,950,759 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $330,849,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in STT. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of State Street by 9.7% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 84,534 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,699,000 after buying an additional 7,469 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in State Street in the 4th quarter worth about $1,959,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in State Street by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 303,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,464,000 after acquiring an additional 26,862 shares in the last quarter. SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. acquired a new stake in State Street during the 4th quarter worth about $935,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in State Street by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 85,775 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,856,000 after acquiring an additional 13,245 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at State Street

In other State Street news, CEO Hanley Ronald P. O sold 14,553 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.17, for a total value of $2,680,226.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 240,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,377,419.03. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.14, for a total transaction of $243,210.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 41,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,781,829.78. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 25,811 shares of company stock worth $4,723,982 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their target price on State Street from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of State Street from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of State Street from $168.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of State Street from $195.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of State Street from $176.50 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, State Street presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.38.

State Street Stock Performance

Shares of STT stock opened at $193.12 on Wednesday. State Street Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $104.64 and a fifty-two week high of $195.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $181.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.80. 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 firm has a market cap of $53.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.03, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.41.

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

State Street Increases Dividend

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

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.