U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Shares Sold by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC reduced its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 1,438.4% in 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 buying an additional 2,116,175 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 313.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,046,522 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 967,143 shares in the last quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $43,619,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 15.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,846,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $271,806,000 after purchasing an additional 925,073 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

USB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.87.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

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. U.S. Bancorp has a 1-year low of $33.61 and a 1-year high of $50.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.02.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its board has authorized 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total transaction of $1,225,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.