State Street (NYSE:STT) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $118.95 and last traded at $117.58, with a volume of 330 shares. The stock had previously closed at $116.90.

STT has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of State Street from $117.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of State Street from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of State Street from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of State Street in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of State Street from $125.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, State Street presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 990 shares of State Street stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.29, for a total transaction of $108,197.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 41,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,517,174.28. This trade represents a 2.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On State Street

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of State Street during the 4th quarter worth approximately $296,000. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of State Street by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,846 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of State Street by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,410 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of State Street by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,272 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of State Street by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

State Street Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50-day moving average of $113.00 and a 200-day moving average of $101.82.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $2.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.17. State Street had a return on equity of 12.96% and a net margin of 12.59%.The firm had revenue of $3.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that State Street Corporation will post 9.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

State Street Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. This is an increase from State Street’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. State Street’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.63%.

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; 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.