State Street (NYSE:STT) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $157.16 and last traded at $156.74, with a volume of 101172 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $153.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on State Street from $137.50 to $158.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Argus upped their price objective on State Street from $140.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on State Street from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of State Street in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised State Street from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $143.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.57.

State Street Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $43.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.45.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last issued 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 business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that State Street Corporation will post 12.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

State Street Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be given 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 34.08%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.89, for a total value of $461,670.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,522 shares in the company, valued at $6,697,600.58. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Mostapha Tahiri sold 9,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 64,642 shares in the company, valued at $9,885,701.06. This represents a 12.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 28,711 shares of company stock worth $3,933,032 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On State Street

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Regents of The University of California lifted its position in State Street by 211.2% during 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. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in State Street by 9.0% during 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 during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in State Street by 30.8% during 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. lifted its position in State Street by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,926,321 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $506,534,000 after buying an additional 67,309 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in State Street by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,582,977 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $462,240,000 after buying an additional 835,331 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.