Clarkston Capital Partners LLC Sells 13,079 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC lowered its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 1.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 722,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,079 shares during the quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $33,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Davis Selected Advisers increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,228,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $564,869,000 after purchasing an additional 43,437 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,312,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $528,523,000 after buying an additional 94,841 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,376,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,364,000 after acquiring an additional 325,374 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,852,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $478,118,000 after acquiring an additional 373,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,962,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $276,407,000 after acquiring an additional 20,928 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

USB stock opened at $49.90 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.73. The stock has a market cap of $77.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.02. U.S. Bancorp has a one year low of $36.49 and a one year high of $51.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its 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 net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on USB shares. DA Davidson increased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.22.

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.