WASHINGTON TRUST Co Cuts Stake in State Street Co. (NYSE:STT)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lowered its position in shares of State Street Co. (NYSE:STT) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,140 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 354 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in State Street were worth $785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in STT. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in shares of State Street by 29.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,505 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of State Street by 14.3% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 17,756 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,547,000 after buying an additional 2,216 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of State Street by 3.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 280,353 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,436,000 after buying an additional 10,187 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in State Street in the 1st quarter worth approximately $812,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in State Street by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,019,000 after purchasing an additional 3,276 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

State Street Price Performance

NYSE STT traded up $1.00 during trading on Thursday, hitting $77.19. 655,044 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,213,057. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $23.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.52. State Street Co. has a 12-month low of $62.78 and a 12-month high of $81.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.68.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The asset manager reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.21. State Street had a net margin of 10.59% and a return on equity of 11.86%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. State Street’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that State Street Co. will post 7.83 EPS for the current year.

State Street Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be paid a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. State Street’s payout ratio is 50.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Eric W. Aboaf sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.90, for a total value of $886,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,063 shares in the company, valued at $11,015,755.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Anthony Bisegna sold 2,606 shares of State Street stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total transaction of $190,238.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,737 shares in the company, valued at $1,294,801. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Eric W. Aboaf sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.90, for a total transaction of $886,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,063 shares in the company, valued at $11,015,755.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,864 shares of company stock valued at $1,390,597. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on State Street from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of State Street from $87.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on State Street from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on State Street from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of State Street in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.83.

About State Street

State Street Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of financial products and services to institutional investors worldwide. The company offers investment servicing products and services, including custody, accounting, regulatory reporting, investor, and performance and analytics; middle office products, such as IBOR, transaction management, loans, cash, derivatives and collateral, record keeping, and client reporting and investment analytics; finance leasing; foreign exchange, and brokerage and other trading services; securities finance and enhanced custody products; deposit and short-term investment facilities; investment manager and alternative investment manager operations outsourcing; performance, risk, and compliance analytics; and financial data management to support institutional investors.