Coho Partners Ltd. Reduces Holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Coho Partners Ltd. reduced its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,999,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 232,066 shares during the period. U.S. Bancorp comprises about 3.3% of Coho Partners Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Coho Partners Ltd.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $91,436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth $1,340,000. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2,056.5% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 218,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,774,000 after purchasing an additional 208,528 shares during the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $200,000. Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.5% in the first quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 112,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,044,000 after buying an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $323,000. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

USB has been the subject of several research reports. 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.72.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $48.53 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. U.S. Bancorp has a twelve month low of $30.47 and a twelve month high of $50.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.73 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $45.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.77.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The firm 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 13.34% and a net margin of 12.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 66.23%.

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.