Groupama Asset Managment Sells 1,259 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Groupama Asset Managment lessened its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,259 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $2,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of USB. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 11.7% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 56,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,567,000 after purchasing an additional 5,881 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 810,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,077,000 after acquiring an additional 29,671 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Zacks Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 1,571,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,866,000 after acquiring an additional 137,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zega Financial LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $906,000. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on USB shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Stephens increased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.72.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at $6,363,603.70. This represents a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

NYSE USB opened at $52.18 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.03. 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 has a 1 year low of $37.81 and a 1 year high of $53.98.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its earnings results 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. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.