State Street (NYSE:STT) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

Zacks Research lowered shares of State Street (NYSE:STT) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

STT has been the topic of several other research reports. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of State Street in a report on Monday, April 20th. Argus upped their price target on shares of State Street from $140.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Bank of America raised State Street from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $143.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on State Street from $162.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on State Street from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, State Street presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.97.

State Street Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of STT opened at $174.13 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $48.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.57. State Street has a 1 year low of $101.84 and a 1 year high of $175.46.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. State Street had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 14.22%. The business’s revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that State Street will post 12.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

State Street Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. State Street’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.08%.

Insider Activity

In other State Street news, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.14, for a total value of $243,210.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 41,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,781,829.78. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Hanley Ronald P. O sold 14,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.35, for a total transaction of $2,260,808.55. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 255,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,693,789.20. This trade represents a 5.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 37,876 shares of company stock worth $5,866,583 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of STT. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of State Street in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Phillip James Consulting Co. bought a new position in shares of State Street during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in State Street in the third quarter worth $29,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in State Street in the first quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in State Street in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about State Street

Here are the key news stories impacting State Street this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: State Street exited or reduced substantial holdings in several companies, including Smartgroup, Aussie Broadband, Deterra Royalties, Electro Optic Systems, Super Retail Group, Austal, Bapcor, Bega Cheese, and Clarity Pharmaceuticals. These are disclosure items tied to asset management positions, not State Street’s own earnings or guidance. Article: State Street exits substantial holding in Smartgroup
• Neutral Sentiment: State Street SPDR Straits Times Index ETF issued an updated prospectus for its Singapore benchmark fund, another routine fund-management update that is unlikely to have a major direct impact on STT’s near-term fundamentals. Article: State Street SPDR STI ETF issues updated prospectus for Singapore benchmark fund

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.