First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Acquires 2,247 Shares of State Street Co. (NYSE:STT)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in shares of State Street Co. (NYSE:STT) by 47.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,021 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 2,247 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in State Street were worth $544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in State Street during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of State Street by 92.5% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 383 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of State Street during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in State Street during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in State Street in the third quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on STT. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on State Street from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Argus increased their price target on State Street from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on State Street from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of State Street from $89.00 to $86.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of State Street from $79.50 to $80.50 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.04.

State Street Price Performance

Shares of NYSE STT opened at $74.39 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.11. State Street Co. has a 12 month low of $62.78 and a 12 month high of $79.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.52.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.21. State Street had a net margin of 9.62% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.06 billion. Analysts expect that State Street Co. will post 7.96 EPS for the current year.

State Street Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. State Street’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.69%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Anthony Bisegna sold 2,606 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total transaction of $190,238.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,294,801. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Anthony Bisegna sold 2,606 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total value of $190,238.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,294,801. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Eric W. Aboaf sold 12,000 shares of State Street stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.90, for a total value of $886,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,015,755.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,864 shares of company stock valued at $1,390,597. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About State Street

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; finance leasing; foreign exchange, and brokerage and other trading services; securities finance and enhanced custody products; deposit and short-term investment facilities; investment manager and alternative investment manager operations outsourcing; performance, risk, and compliance analytics; and financial data management to support institutional investors.