Venturi Wealth Management LLC Boosts Holdings in State Street Co. (NYSE:STT)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of State Street Co. (NYSE:STT) by 60.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,114 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 418 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in State Street were worth $109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in State Street in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of State Street during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of State Street during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in State Street in the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

State Street Stock Performance

Shares of STT stock opened at $98.74 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $98.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.02. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $28.48 billion, a PE ratio of 11.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.43. State Street Co. has a 52-week low of $70.20 and a 52-week high of $103.00.

State Street (NYSE:STT) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The asset manager reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.31. State Street had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 12.14%. The business had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that State Street Co. will post 9.68 EPS for the current year.

State Street Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. State Street’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.89%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gregory L. Summe sold 10,815 shares of State Street stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $1,081,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Ann Fogarty sold 3,705 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.47, for a total value of $368,536.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 50,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,054,667.52. The trade was a 6.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on State Street from $108.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. StockNews.com cut shares of State Street from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of State Street from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of State Street from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.73.

State Street 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.