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

Shares of State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $170.54 and last traded at $169.13, with a volume of 115077 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $167.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STT has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of State Street from $137.50 to $158.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of State Street from $157.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of State Street in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of State Street from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of State Street from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, State Street has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.57.

State Street Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $47.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $152.45 and its 200-day moving average is $136.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that State Street Corporation will post 12.35 earnings per share for the current year.

State Street Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be given a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. State Street’s payout ratio is presently 34.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at State Street

In other news, EVP W. Bradford Hu sold 9,212 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.35, for a total transaction of $1,431,084.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 59,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,251,403.20. This represents a 13.40% 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, CEO Hanley Ronald P. O sold 14,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.35, for a total value of $2,260,808.55. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 255,512 shares in the company, valued at $39,693,789.20. This represents a 5.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 37,876 shares of company stock valued at $5,866,583 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of State Street

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of State Street during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in State Street in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Phillip James Consulting Co. purchased a new position in State Street in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in State Street in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management purchased a new position in State Street in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. 87.44% of the stock is currently 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.