Buck Wealth Strategies LLC Lowers Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Buck Wealth Strategies LLC trimmed its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 36.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,769 shares during the quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of USB. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 723.7% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,211,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $146,864,000 after purchasing an additional 2,821,642 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 1,438.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,263,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,853,000 after buying an additional 2,116,175 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 313.8% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,698,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,903,000 after buying an additional 2,046,522 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 1,554.3% during the third quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,503,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,761,000 after buying an additional 1,412,743 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 16.2% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,941,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,284,000 after buying an additional 967,143 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.12.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 0.5 %

U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $50.80 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. U.S. Bancorp has a one year low of $33.61 and a one year high of $51.76.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value of $1,225,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at $6,363,603.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

About U.S. Bancorp

U.S. Bancorp, a financial services holding company, provides various financial services to individuals, businesses, institutional organizations, governmental entities, and other financial institutions in the United States. It operates through Wealth, Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking; Consumer and Business Banking; Payment Services; and Treasury and Corporate Support segments.