KBC Group NV Sells 85,249 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

KBC Group NV trimmed its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 27.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 229,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 85,249 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $10,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 723.7% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,211,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $146,864,000 after acquiring an additional 2,821,642 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1,438.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,263,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,853,000 after buying an additional 2,116,175 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 313.8% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,698,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,903,000 after buying an additional 2,046,522 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1,554.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,503,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,761,000 after buying an additional 1,412,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,941,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,284,000 after acquiring an additional 967,143 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value of $1,225,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This represents a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on USB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson upped their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.22.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 0.8 %

USB opened at $49.90 on Friday. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $36.49 and a 12 month high of $51.76. The company has a market cap of $77.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $46.99 and a 200 day moving average of $43.69.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

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.