River Road Asset Management LLC Trims Holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

River Road Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 381,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,870 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $17,429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in USB. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake 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 worth $89,853,000 after acquiring an additional 2,116,175 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,046,522 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 16.2% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,941,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,284,000 after purchasing an additional 967,143 shares in the last quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $43,619,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $271,806,000 after buying an additional 925,073 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value of $1,225,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE:USB opened at $47.20 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $46.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.14. The company has a market cap of $73.66 billion, a PE ratio of 14.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.02. U.S. Bancorp has a twelve month low of $33.61 and a twelve month high of $50.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on USB. Morgan Stanley upgraded U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.87.

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.