Optas LLC Makes New $212,000 Investment in State Street Corporation $STT

Optas LLC acquired a new position in shares of State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STT. Eastern Bank increased its holdings in State Street by 6,967.4% during the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 2,989,452 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $267,646,000 after purchasing an additional 2,947,153 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in State Street during the 1st quarter worth approximately $93,016,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in State Street by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,184,690 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $732,775,000 after purchasing an additional 674,120 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY bought a new stake in State Street during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,504,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in State Street by 404.7% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 586,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $52,469,000 after purchasing an additional 469,936 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.29, for a total value of $108,197.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 41,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,517,174.28. This represents a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

State Street Price Performance

State Street stock opened at $111.03 on Friday. State Street Corporation has a 12 month low of $72.81 and a 12 month high of $118.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.22. The company has a market cap of $31.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.46.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $2.53 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $3.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.15 earnings per share. State Street’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that State Street Corporation will post 9.68 EPS for the current year.

State Street Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. This is a positive change from State Street’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. State Street’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on State Street from $117.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of State Street in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their target price on State Street from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Cfra Research raised State Street from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on State Street from $109.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, State Street has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.83.

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.