Geode Capital Management LLC Sells 46,599 Shares of State Street Corporation $STT

Geode Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,391,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 46,599 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in State Street were worth $949,905,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of STT. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in State Street by 3.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,859,012 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $447,684,000 after buying an additional 137,049 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of State Street by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,829,271 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $367,041,000 after buying an additional 377,568 shares during the period. Regents of The University of California bought a new stake in shares of State Street during the third quarter worth $324,576,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of State Street by 36.8% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,747,646 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $318,754,000 after acquiring an additional 738,456 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of State Street by 27.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,576,332 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $182,870,000 after acquiring an additional 342,344 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of State Street from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $143.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Argus lifted their price target on State Street from $140.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on State Street from $152.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Barclays set a $165.00 price objective on State Street in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Zacks Research raised State Street from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Mostapha Tahiri sold 9,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.93, for a total value of $1,469,810.23. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 64,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,885,701.06. This represents a 12.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Plansky sold 16,100 shares of State Street stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.32, for a total value of $2,001,552.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 56,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,982,059.84. The trade was a 22.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 52,476 shares of company stock valued at $7,624,925. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

State Street Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:STT opened at $155.63 on Friday. State Street Corporation has a 52-week low of $94.72 and a 52-week high of $159.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $43.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $132.22.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.20. State Street had a return on equity of 14.22% and a net margin of 13.47%.The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that State Street Corporation will post 12.35 earnings per share for the current year.

State Street Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be issued a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 1st. State Street’s payout ratio is currently 34.08%.

Key Headlines Impacting State Street

Here are the key news stories impacting State Street this week:

• Positive Sentiment: State Street was highlighted as one of the better-positioned names in the regional banks/financials group, with analysts citing favorable industry trends such as restructuring, acquisitions, digitization, loan demand, and lower rates as potential tailwinds for growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: State Street Investment Management announced it will close and liquidate the EMTL ETF, which can be read as disciplined product management and a focus on pruning weaker offerings to improve capital efficiency. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: State Street announced that CFO John Woods will present at the Morgan Stanley U.S. Financials Conference on June 10. The event may provide updates on strategy and outlook, but it is not a direct business catalyst by itself. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: State Street’s entities ceased to be substantial holders in several Australian companies, reflecting portfolio ownership changes that do not appear material to State Street’s own earnings power. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Ronald P. Hanley and EVP W. Bradford Hu both sold shares under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans. While routine, insider selling can still pressure sentiment when the stock is trading close to recent highs. Article Title

About State Street

State Street Corporation is a global financial services company that provides a range of investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading services to institutional investors. Its principal activities include custody and fund administration, securities lending, performance and risk analytics, trading and execution services, and foreign exchange. The company also offers investment management through State Street Global Advisors, a major provider of exchange-traded funds and institutional investment strategies.

State Street serves a broad client base of asset managers, insurance companies, pension funds, endowments, and other institutions across North America, Europe, Asia and other global markets.