Investors Purchase High Volume of State Street Call Options (NYSE:STT)

State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 61,373 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,817% compared to the average volume of 3,202 call options.

State Street Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:STT traded up $1.65 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $132.51. The company had a trading volume of 1,342,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,339,260. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.59. State Street has a one year low of $72.81 and a one year high of $137.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $127.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.63. The company has a market capitalization of $37.01 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.43.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The asset manager reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.15. State Street had a net margin of 13.02% and a return on equity of 13.46%. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that State Street will post 9.68 EPS for the current year.

State Street Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 12th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. State Street’s payout ratio is presently 35.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on STT shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of State Street in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on State Street from $168.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Loop Capital set a $144.00 target price on State Street in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of State Street from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of State Street from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.83.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of State Street during the fourth quarter worth approximately $296,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in State Street by 2.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 32,223 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,885,000 after buying an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of State Street by 105.2% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,193 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $913,000 after buying an additional 5,226 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of State Street by 220.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,263 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after buying an additional 15,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased its position in shares of State Street by 38.4% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 24,372 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,182,000 after acquiring an additional 6,767 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

State Street Company 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.