Asset Dedication LLC Has $330,000 Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Asset Dedication LLC cut its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,100 shares during the quarter. Asset Dedication LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1,438.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,263,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,853,000 after buying an additional 2,116,175 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 313.8% in the 2nd 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 buying an additional 2,046,522 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 88.9% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,331,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,198,000 after buying an additional 1,097,179 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,941,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,284,000 after buying an additional 967,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,846,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $271,806,000 after buying an additional 925,073 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on USB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.14.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $49.21 on Thursday. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $30.47 and a 12 month high of $50.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.58. The company has a market cap of $76.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.03.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.23%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 reacquire up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Company 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.