First Trust Advisors LP Sells 814,913 Shares of State Street Corporation $STT

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its stake in State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) by 22.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,768,064 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 814,913 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 1.00% of State Street worth $350,326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of State Street by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 5,351 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in shares of State Street by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,498 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $861,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Arjuna Capital increased its holdings in State Street by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 25,139 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,243,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC raised its position in State Street by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 5,605 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of State Street by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 32,024 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,053,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

State Street Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:STT opened at $183.39 on Wednesday. State Street Corporation has a 12-month low of $104.64 and a 12-month high of $192.51. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.93. The company has a market capitalization of $50.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The asset manager reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.34 by $0.31. State Street had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 15.02%.The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.04 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that State Street Corporation will post 13.44 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 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $0.92 dividend. This is a boost from State Street’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. State Street’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at State Street

In other State Street news, EVP W. Bradford Hu sold 9,212 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.35, for a total transaction of $1,431,084.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 59,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,251,403.20. This represents a 13.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.14, for a total transaction of $243,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 41,827 shares in the company, valued at $6,781,829.78. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,265 shares of company stock valued at $3,935,103. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on STT shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on State Street from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on State Street from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group set a $176.00 price objective on shares of State Street in a research note on Friday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of State Street from $158.50 to $176.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of State Street in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $184.72.

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.