Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC Lowers Stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lessened its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 355 shares during the quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,282,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,110,115,000 after buying an additional 819,805 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,913,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,922,784,000 after acquiring an additional 15,746,852 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,328,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,164,350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796,336 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,086,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,616,000 after buying an additional 599,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,376,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,364,000 after buying an additional 325,374 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value of $1,225,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on USB shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Raymond James upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial began coverage on U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson raised U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.07.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of USB traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $47.42. The stock had a trading volume of 5,312,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,073,883. The firm has a market cap of $73.98 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.05. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $37.81 and a 1 year high of $53.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $50.21 and its 200 day moving average is $46.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

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

U.S. Bancorp announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 12th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.22%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

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.