Pegasus Partners Ltd. Sells 3,675 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Pegasus Partners Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 8.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,675 shares during the quarter. Pegasus Partners Ltd.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $1,903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of USB. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of 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 increased its stake 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 during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,941,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,284,000 after buying an additional 967,143 shares in the last quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,619,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 15.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,846,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $271,806,000 after acquiring an additional 925,073 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,363,603.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on USB shares. Morgan Stanley raised U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.12.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $50.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. U.S. Bancorp has a one year low of $33.61 and a one year high of $51.76. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.02.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

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.