Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Cuts Stock Holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD trimmed its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 18.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,542,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,727,985 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $739,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of USB. Norges Bank purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $827,370,000. Boston Partners purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $154,517,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 33,719,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,459,363,000 after acquiring an additional 2,598,163 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $92,192,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 88.9% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,331,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,198,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097,179 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other U.S. Bancorp news, Director Aleem Gillani purchased 10,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $44.99 per share, for a total transaction of $449,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $449,900. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 0.8 %

USB traded up $0.37 on Friday, reaching $45.46. 5,681,656 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,558,748. U.S. Bancorp has a one year low of $30.47 and a one year high of $45.85. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.52. The company has a market cap of $70.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.55% and a return on equity of 13.34%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.31%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on USB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.50 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (down from $52.00) on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.76.

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.