KBC Group NV Acquires 197,457 Shares of State Street Corporation $STT

KBC Group NV increased its position in State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) by 206.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 293,176 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 197,457 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in State Street were worth $37,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Regents of The University of California increased its stake in shares of State Street by 211.2% in the fourth quarter. Regents of The University of California now owns 8,706,195 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,123,186,000 after buying an additional 5,908,370 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in State Street during the 4th quarter valued at $303,483,000. Pinebridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in State Street in the 4th quarter worth $178,705,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in State Street by 30.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,559,546 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $588,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074,174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of State Street by 261.0% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,217,802 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $141,277,000 after acquiring an additional 880,507 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on State Street from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on State Street from $168.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $191.00 price target (up from $176.00) on shares of State Street in a research report on Friday. Argus upped their price target on shares of State Street from $140.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of State Street from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, State Street currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.72.

State Street Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of State Street stock opened at $182.31 on Tuesday. State Street Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $104.64 and a fifty-two week high of $192.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $50.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $166.47 and a 200 day moving average of $144.55.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The asset manager reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.88 billion. State Street had a net margin of 15.02% and a return on equity of 15.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that State Street Corporation will post 13.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

State Street Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from State Street’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. State Street’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP W. Bradford Hu sold 9,212 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.35, for a total transaction of $1,431,084.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 59,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,251,403.20. This trade represents a 13.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Mostapha Tahiri sold 9,611 shares of State Street stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,885,701.06. This represents a 12.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 37,876 shares of company stock worth $5,866,583 in the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

State Street Profile

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.