Alliancebernstein L.P. Decreases Stake in State Street Co. (NYSE:STT)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its position in State Street Co. (NYSE:STT) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 459,012 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 11,779 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.16% of State Street worth $45,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of State Street during the fourth quarter worth $161,021,000. Amundi lifted its position in shares of State Street by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 5,602,547 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $547,636,000 after buying an additional 561,773 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in State Street by 818.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 518,697 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $45,889,000 after purchasing an additional 462,201 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in State Street in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,070,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of State Street by 99.4% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 888,146 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $78,574,000 after acquiring an additional 442,725 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

State Street Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:STT opened at $76.23 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $94.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56. State Street Co. has a 12 month low of $70.20 and a 12 month high of $103.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.42.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The asset manager reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.31. State Street had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.04 earnings per share. State Street’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that State Street Co. will post 9.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

State Street Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. State Street’s payout ratio is currently 36.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other State Street news, EVP Ann Fogarty sold 3,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.47, for a total transaction of $368,536.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,054,667.52. The trade was a 6.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe sold 10,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $1,081,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 100,023 shares in the company, valued at $10,002,300. This represents a 9.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of State Street from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut State Street from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of State Street from $108.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America lifted their target price on State Street from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on State Street from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.07.

State Street Company Profile

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.