Kentucky Retirement Systems Grows Position in State Street Corporation $STT

Kentucky Retirement Systems lifted its position in State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) by 104.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 36,245 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,474 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in State Street were worth $4,587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of State Street during the fourth quarter worth about $296,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of State Street by 2.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in State Street by 105.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,193 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $913,000 after purchasing an additional 5,226 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in State Street by 220.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,263 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 15,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP raised its position in State Street by 38.4% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 24,372 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,182,000 after purchasing an additional 6,767 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on STT. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of State Street in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on State Street from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of State Street from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Argus upped their price objective on shares of State Street from $140.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of State Street from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $184.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP W. Bradford Hu sold 9,758 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.52, for a total transaction of $1,800,546.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 49,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,187,988.88. The trade was a 16.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 240,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,377,419.03. This 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. Insiders have sold 49,576 shares of company stock valued at $8,415,875 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

State Street Trading Up 3.9%

NYSE STT opened at $182.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.63 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $171.34 and its 200 day moving average is $147.45. State Street Corporation has a twelve month low of $104.64 and a twelve month high of $192.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 15.02%.The business had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that State Street Corporation will post 13.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

State Street Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is an increase from State Street’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. State Street’s dividend payout ratio is 32.45%.

About State Street

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.