U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Shares Sold by Valley Wealth Managers Inc.

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 101,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,700 shares during the quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $4,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of USB. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter worth $20,188,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 6.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 276,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,363,000 after purchasing an additional 16,686 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 11.2% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 564,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,231,000 after purchasing an additional 56,738 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc increased its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 73.9% in the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 314,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,570,000 after purchasing an additional 133,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1,140.5% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 20,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $911,000 after buying an additional 18,739 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on USB shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group lifted 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 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.22.

Insider Activity 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 stock was sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total transaction of $1,225,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

USB traded up $0.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $50.56. 827,602 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,315,688. The stock has a market cap of $78.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $46.88 and a 200 day moving average of $43.63. 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 52 week low of $36.49 and a 52 week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company 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 business posted $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. 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 announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 12th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.