First Long Island Investors LLC Sells 1,499 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

First Long Island Investors LLC lowered its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 338,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,499 shares during the quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $15,496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 233,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,452,000 after acquiring an additional 44,624 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 14.3% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 196,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,802,000 after buying an additional 24,589 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 7.9% during the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 133,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,964,000 after buying an additional 9,733 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $8,133,000. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 23.3% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 10,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,890 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on USB. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.22.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

USB traded down $0.28 on Friday, hitting $50.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,111,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,321,470. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $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. The firm has a market cap of $78.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.02.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. The business 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. Analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was 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 owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by 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.