Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in State Street Co. (NYSE:STT)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of State Street Co. (NYSE:STT) by 30.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc.’s holdings in State Street were worth $255,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of STT. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in State Street during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in shares of State Street by 116.6% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in State Street in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its stake in State Street by 2,942.9% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in State Street by 187.3% during the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 477 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

State Street Price Performance

Shares of NYSE STT opened at $98.23 on Monday. State Street Co. has a 52 week low of $70.20 and a 52 week high of $103.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $28.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.42. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $87.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.82.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.06. State Street had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 12.14%. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that State Street Co. will post 9.68 earnings per share for the current year.

State Street Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. State Street’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of State Street from $127.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on State Street from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on State Street from $118.00 to $113.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded State Street from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective (down from $104.00) on shares of State Street in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at State Street

In other news, EVP Ann Fogarty sold 3,705 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,816 shares in the company, valued at $5,054,667.52. This represents a 6.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 transaction, the director now owns 100,023 shares in the company, valued at $10,002,300. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,820 shares of company stock valued at $1,567,972 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.