Blair William & Co. IL Lowers Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Blair William & Co. IL lowered its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 6.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 183,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,631 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $7,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 6.5% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 234,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,292,000 after acquiring an additional 14,293 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 180,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,757,000 after purchasing an additional 7,481 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,495,000. Excalibur Management Corp increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 10,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $9,198,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on USB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.50 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. DA Davidson increased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.18.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $46.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $30.47 and a 1 year high of $47.31. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.32. The firm has a market cap of $71.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.04.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 12.55%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. U.S. Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.35%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 66.23%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other U.S. Bancorp news, Director Aleem Gillani purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $44.99 per share, with a total value of $449,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $449,900. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.