Choate Investment Advisors Trims Stock Position in State Street Co. (NYSE:STT)

Choate Investment Advisors trimmed its holdings in shares of State Street Co. (NYSE:STT) by 35.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,339 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,978 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in State Street were worth $524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of State Street in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its stake in State Street by 116.6% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 366 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in State Street in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of State Street during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of State Street during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on STT shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of State Street from $108.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective (down previously from $104.00) on shares of State Street in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research upgraded State Street from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded State Street from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of State Street from $142.00 to $139.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, State Street has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at State Street

In other news, EVP Ann Fogarty sold 3,705 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,054,667.52. This represents a 6.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe sold 10,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 100,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,002,300. The trade was a 9.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

State Street Price Performance

STT stock opened at $86.90 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $25.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56. State Street Co. has a 1 year low of $70.20 and a 1 year high of $103.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.17.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The asset manager reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.27 billion. State Street had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 12.60%. State Street’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. On average, equities 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 issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. State Street’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.89%.

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.