U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Shares Sold by Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. trimmed its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 12.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,250 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 135,371,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,051,096,000 after buying an additional 502,776 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,228,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $564,869,000 after buying an additional 43,437 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% in the 2nd 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 buying an additional 94,841 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,478,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $376,295,000 after buying an additional 271,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 8,921,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,800,000 after buying an additional 23,826 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on USB shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.18.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

USB stock opened at $46.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $30.47 and a 52-week high of $47.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $44.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.31. The company has a market capitalization of $71.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.24, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.04.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.35%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 66.23%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 12th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.