Royal Bank of Canada Increases Stock Holdings in State Street Corporation $STT

Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) by 24.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 678,924 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 132,493 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in State Street were worth $85,924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in STT. Regents of The University of California lifted its position in shares of State Street by 211.2% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 5,908,370 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in State Street by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,222,382 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $673,740,000 after buying an additional 433,201 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in State Street by 30.8% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,559,546 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $588,227,000 after buying an additional 1,074,174 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in State Street by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,926,321 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $506,534,000 after acquiring an additional 67,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in State Street by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,582,977 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $462,240,000 after acquiring an additional 835,331 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

State Street Price Performance

STT opened at $184.60 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $171.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $51.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.42. State Street Corporation has a 1 year low of $104.64 and a 1 year high of $192.51.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The asset manager reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.34 by $0.31. State Street had a net margin of 15.02% and a return on equity of 15.26%. The company had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.04 EPS. State Street’s revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that State Street Corporation will post 13.68 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a $0.92 dividend. This is a boost from State Street’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. State Street’s payout ratio is currently 29.63%.

Insider Transactions at State Street

In other news, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.14, for a total transaction of $243,210.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hanley Ronald P. O sold 14,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.17, for a total transaction of $2,680,226.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 240,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,377,419.03. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,576 shares of company stock worth $8,415,875. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on STT. Barclays upped their target price on State Street from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research upgraded State Street from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on State Street from $168.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on State Street from $195.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised State Street from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.