L & S Advisors Inc Sells 43,838 Shares of State Street Co. (NYSE:STT)

L & S Advisors Inc decreased its position in State Street Co. (NYSE:STT) by 34.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,955 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 43,838 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in State Street were worth $8,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Trust N.A. purchased a new position in State Street during the 3rd quarter valued at about $226,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of State Street by 35.1% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 60,936 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,818 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of State Street by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,112,758 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $540,796,000 after purchasing an additional 833,679 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in State Street during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in State Street during the third quarter valued at $351,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

State Street Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE STT opened at $88.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. 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 $25.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $95.35 and a 200 day moving average of $94.40.

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

State Street Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid 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 dividend yield of 3.42%. State Street’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on State Street from $142.00 to $139.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of State Street from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $103.00 target price (down previously from $104.00) on shares of State Street in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of State Street from $108.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised State Street from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, State Street presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gregory L. Summe sold 10,815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $1,081,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 100,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,002,300. This represents a 9.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ann Fogarty sold 3,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.47, for a total value 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. This represents a 6.80 % 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 insiders.

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.