Financial Counselors Inc. Decreases Stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Financial Counselors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 401,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 840 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $18,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in USB. FMR LLC boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 32.7% during 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 buying an additional 15,746,852 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,328,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,164,350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,796,336 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% during the second quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,228,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $564,869,000 after purchasing an additional 43,437 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,312,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $528,523,000 after purchasing an additional 94,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,376,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,364,000 after purchasing an additional 325,374 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $53.48 on Thursday. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $36.49 and a 1 year high of $53.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $48.16 and its 200 day moving average is $44.30. The stock has a market cap of $83.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.02. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.16%.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In other 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 transaction of $1,225,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $49.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.02.

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.