Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Has $1.43 Million Position in State Street Co. (NYSE:STT)

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in shares of State Street Co. (NYSE:STT) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,550 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in State Street were worth $1,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STT. Adero Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of State Street by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of State Street by 2.0% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 5,283 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of State Street by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 12,232 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,201,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in shares of State Street by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 18,332 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,799,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of State Street by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $986,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at State Street

In related news, EVP Ann Fogarty sold 3,705 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.47, for a total value of $368,536.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 50,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,054,667.52. This represents a 6.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe sold 10,815 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $1,081,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,002,300. This trade represents a 9.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

State Street Stock Up 2.5 %

STT stock opened at $90.33 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56. State Street Co. has a 52-week low of $70.20 and a 52-week high of $103.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $96.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.44.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The asset manager reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.31. State Street had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The business had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that State Street Co. will post 9.68 EPS for the current year.

State Street Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. State Street’s payout ratio is presently 36.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of State Street from $108.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of State Street from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of State Street from $142.00 to $139.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of State Street from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of State Street from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.20.

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.