Aberdeen Group plc Decreases Stake in State Street Corporation $STT

Aberdeen Group plc lessened its position in shares of State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 248,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 7,205 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in State Street were worth $32,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of STT. Regents of The University of California purchased a new stake in State Street during the third quarter worth approximately $324,576,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in State Street by 11.7% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 208,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,139,000 after purchasing an additional 21,810 shares in the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in State Street in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,622,000. AE Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in State Street in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,611,000. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in State Street by 49.2% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 127,984 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $14,847,000 after purchasing an additional 42,198 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on STT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of State Street in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of State Street in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of State Street in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of State Street from $168.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised State Street from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.83.

Insider Activity at State Street

In other news, EVP John Plansky sold 16,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.32, for a total transaction of $2,001,552.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 56,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,982,059.84. This represents a 22.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

State Street Stock Performance

Shares of STT opened at $128.84 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.23. The firm has a market cap of $35.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.37. State Street Corporation has a 12-month low of $72.81 and a 12-month high of $137.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The asset manager reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.57 billion. State Street had a net margin of 13.02% and a return on equity of 13.46%. State Street’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that State Street Corporation will post 9.68 EPS for the current year.

State Street Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. State Street’s payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

State Street Company Profile

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.