Creative Planning Sells 2,316 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Creative Planning lowered its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 654,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,316 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $25,986,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of USB. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1,438.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $92,192,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position 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 worth $105,903,000 after acquiring an additional 2,046,522 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased 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. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 16.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 967,143 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

USB opened at $45.48 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $44.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.38. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $30.47 and a 52-week high of $47.31.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 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 $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.23%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

USB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped 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. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.18.

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 purchased at an average price of $44.99 per share, with a total value of $449,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $449,900. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is currently 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.