Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Sells 4,375 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 15.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,375 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $1,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1,438.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,263,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,853,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,175 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 313.8% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,698,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $105,903,000 after acquiring an additional 2,046,522 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 88.9% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,331,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,198,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097,179 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 16.2% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,941,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,284,000 after acquiring an additional 967,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 15.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,846,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $271,806,000 after acquiring an additional 925,073 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on USB. Stephens increased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.71.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

U.S. Bancorp stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $47.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,513,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,349,951. U.S. Bancorp has a 1-year low of $30.47 and a 1-year high of $50.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $45.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.69. The company has a market cap of $74.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.03.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.55% and a return on equity of 13.34%. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.23%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Profile

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.