Empower Advisory Group LLC Lowers Stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Empower Advisory Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 508 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of USB. State Street Corp raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,282,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,110,115,000 after buying an additional 819,805 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 32.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,913,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,922,784,000 after buying an additional 15,746,852 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,328,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,164,350,000 after buying an additional 1,796,336 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,086,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,616,000 after buying an additional 599,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 4.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,235,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $513,796,000 after buying an additional 436,252 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.59, for a total value of $1,427,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 99,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,749,006.10. The trade was a 23.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Cecere sold 102,044 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.25, for a total transaction of $4,821,579.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,230,316 shares in the company, valued at $58,132,431. This trade represents a 7.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 219,812 shares of company stock worth $10,385,665 over the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

USB opened at $47.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $73.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.43, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.04. U.S. Bancorp has a 1-year low of $37.81 and a 1-year high of $53.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.25%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 52.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on USB shares. Citigroup raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price 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. DA Davidson upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.21.

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.