Private Advisor Group LLC Makes New Investment in State Street Co. (NYSE:STT)

Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of State Street Co. (NYSE:STT) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 6,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $497,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of STT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of State Street in the 4th quarter valued at about $184,482,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of State Street by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,031,661 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $467,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,430,237 shares during the period. Eaton Vance Management raised its stake in State Street by 159.8% during the 1st quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 1,750,857 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $152,535,000 after buying an additional 1,077,013 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its stake in State Street by 234.8% during the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,260,226 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $95,387,000 after buying an additional 883,781 shares during the period. Finally, ING Groep NV raised its stake in State Street by 3,005.6% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 702,389 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $54,484,000 after buying an additional 679,772 shares during the period. 89.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Eric W. Aboaf sold 11,886 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.13, for a total value of $797,907.18. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 145,974 shares in the company, valued at $9,799,234.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

State Street Stock Performance

STT stock opened at $69.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.26 billion, a PE ratio of 9.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business has a 50 day moving average of $71.15 and a 200-day moving average of $73.98. State Street Co. has a 12-month low of $58.62 and a 12-month high of $94.74.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The asset manager reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. State Street had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 16.99%. State Street’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that State Street Co. will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current year.

State Street Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 29th. This is a positive change from State Street’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. State Street’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STT has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on State Street in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on State Street from $82.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, July 17th. UBS Group downgraded State Street from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded State Street from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $78.50 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded State Street from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Sunday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, State Street has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.17.

State Street Company Profile

State Street Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of financial products and services to institutional investors worldwide. The company offers investment servicing products and services, including custody, accounting, regulatory reporting, investor, and performance and analytics; middle office products, such as IBOR, transaction management, loans, cash, derivatives and collateral, record keeping, and client reporting and investment analytics; foreign exchange, and brokerage and other trading services; securities finance and enhanced custody products; deposit and short-term investment facilities; loans and lease financing; investment manager and alternative investment manager operations outsourcing; performance, risk, and compliance analytics; and financial data management to support institutional investors.