State Street (NYSE:STT) Upgraded to "Buy" at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of State Street (NYSE:STT - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

STT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays lifted their target price on State Street from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on State Street from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of State Street from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of State Street from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $105.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of State Street from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.32.

State Street Stock Performance

Shares of STT traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $95.42. 2,089,631 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,217,131. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $95.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.82. State Street has a 12-month low of $70.20 and a 12-month high of $101.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44.

State Street (NYSE:STT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.19 billion. State Street had a return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 9.87%. State Street's revenue for the quarter was up 21.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.93 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that State Street will post 8.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

State Street Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. State Street's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.03%.

Insider Activity at State Street

In other State Street news, EVP John Plansky sold 13,859 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.32, for a total transaction of $1,265,603.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,108 shares in the company, valued at $5,032,462.56. This trade represents a 20.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn M. Horgan sold 12,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.97, for a total value of $1,224,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 111,042 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,878,784.74. This trade represents a 10.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,460 shares of company stock valued at $2,499,860. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On State Street

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in State Street in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of State Street in the third quarter worth about $44,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of State Street during the third quarter valued at $54,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in State Street during the 2nd quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its position in shares of State Street by 202.7% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 993 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.