KCM Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 24.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,693 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $3,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth $213,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,263,000 after buying an additional 2,375 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 49,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,286,000 after buying an additional 1,459 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 484,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,169,000 after buying an additional 38,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,568,000 after buying an additional 2,232 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

USB has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective 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. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.22.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

NYSE USB traded down $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $50.20. 1,632,170 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,319,313. The company has a market capitalization of $78.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. U.S. Bancorp has a 12-month low of $36.49 and a 12-month high of $51.76.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released 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. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.16%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was 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 owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.