Comerica Bank Boosts Stock Holdings in State Street Co. (NYSE:STT)

Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of State Street Co. (NYSE:STT) by 51.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 151,865 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 51,404 shares during the period. Comerica Bank owned 0.05% of State Street worth $11,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in State Street in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $147,421,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in State Street by 541.2% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 751,641 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $58,117,000 after purchasing an additional 634,422 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in State Street by 430.5% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 735,136 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $56,841,000 after purchasing an additional 596,567 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in State Street by 57.8% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,563,964 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $121,145,000 after purchasing an additional 573,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of State Street by 168.7% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 807,950 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $62,469,000 after acquiring an additional 507,270 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

State Street Stock Performance

Shares of STT stock traded down $1.91 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $83.06. 652,276 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,267,767. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.48. State Street Co. has a 12-month low of $62.78 and a 12-month high of $86.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.54.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The asset manager reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.12. State Street had a return on equity of 11.78% and a net margin of 8.98%. The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that State Street Co. will post 8.12 EPS for the current year.

State Street Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. This is a positive change from State Street’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. State Street’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on State Street from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Argus increased their price objective on State Street from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on State Street from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on State Street from $79.50 to $80.50 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on State Street from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, State Street currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.96.

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.