Westpac Banking Corp Buys New Holdings in State Street Corporation $STT

Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new position in State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 43,096 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $7,309,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in State Street during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,139,389,000. Regents of The University of California lifted its holdings in shares of State Street by 15.6% in the first quarter. Regents of The University of California now owns 10,065,118 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,273,841,000 after buying an additional 1,358,923 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of State Street by 9.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,074,174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 67,309 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on STT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of State Street from $176.50 to $187.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of State Street from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of State Street from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on State Street from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on State Street from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.38.

Insider Transactions at State Street

In related news, EVP W. Bradford Hu sold 9,758 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.52, for a total value of $1,800,546.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 49,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,187,988.88. This trade represents a 16.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Michael L. Richards sold 1,500 shares of State Street stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.14, for a total value of $243,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 41,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,781,829.78. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 49,576 shares of company stock worth $8,415,875 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

State Street Trading Up 2.3%

STT stock opened at $187.22 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $180.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.79. State Street Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $104.64 and a fifty-two week high of $195.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $51.43 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.41.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The asset manager reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.88 billion. State Street had a net margin of 15.02% and a return on equity of 15.26%. State Street’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.04 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that State Street Corporation will post 13.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

State Street Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $0.92 dividend. This is a boost from State Street’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. State Street’s payout ratio is presently 29.63%.

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.