Guinness Asset Management LTD Boosts Holdings in State Street Co. (NYSE:STT)

Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its stake in shares of State Street Co. (NYSE:STT) by 65.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,694 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,057 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings in State Street were worth $755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of STT. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of State Street in the 4th quarter valued at $238,000. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of State Street by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,481 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in shares of State Street by 190.6% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 1,889 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 1,239 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its holdings in State Street by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 251,581 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,693,000 after acquiring an additional 11,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in State Street during the fourth quarter valued at about $395,000. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered State Street from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of State Street from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of State Street from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of State Street from $139.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of State Street from $108.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.33.

Insider Activity at State Street

In other news, EVP Kathryn M. Horgan sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was 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 directly owns 111,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,878,784.74. The trade was a 10.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

State Street Price Performance

STT stock opened at $97.51 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $97.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.63. State Street Co. has a 52-week low of $70.20 and a 52-week high of $101.91. The company has a market capitalization of $28.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3,267,560 billion. State Street had a net margin of 9.87% and a return on equity of 12.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.04 earnings per share. Analysts predict that State Street Co. will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

State Street Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. State Street’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.03%.

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.