Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Grows Holdings in State Street Corporation $STT

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) by 1.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,141,261 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,236 shares during the quarter. State Street makes up 2.1% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in State Street were worth $132,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in State Street in the fourth quarter worth approximately $296,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of State Street by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 32,223 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,885,000 after buying an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of State Street by 105.2% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,193 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $913,000 after buying an additional 5,226 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in State Street by 220.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,263 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after buying an additional 15,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in State Street by 38.4% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 24,372 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,182,000 after acquiring an additional 6,767 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

State Street Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:STT opened at $132.70 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $123.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.95. State Street Corporation has a 52 week low of $72.81 and a 52 week high of $134.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $37.06 billion, a PE ratio of 14.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.43.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.43 billion. State Street had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 13.37%. The company’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that State Street Corporation will post 9.68 earnings per share for the current year.

State Street Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 12th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. State Street’s payout ratio is presently 35.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on STT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of State Street from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of State Street from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of State Street in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded State Street from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Loop Capital set a $144.00 price objective on State Street in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.77.

Insider Transactions at State Street

In other State Street news, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.24, for a total transaction of $175,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,528,512.24. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.