South Dakota Investment Council Trims Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

South Dakota Investment Council decreased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 619,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 52,100 shares during the quarter. U.S. Bancorp comprises 0.6% of South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $26,828,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of USB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 5.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 136,513,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,513,127,000 after purchasing an additional 6,479,642 shares during the last quarter. Mufg Bank LTD. increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 54.1% during the third quarter. Mufg Bank LTD. now owns 68,374,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,260,450,000 after purchasing an additional 24,000,000 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 37,470,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,238,765,000 after purchasing an additional 674,583 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 5.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,120,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,028,859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,610,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aristotle Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 266.6% in the third quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,467,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $775,842,000 after acquiring an additional 17,066,479 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,582 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.47, for a total value of $895,005.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,837,573.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,582 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.47, for a total transaction of $895,005.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,837,573.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 26,583 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.37, for a total transaction of $1,152,904.71. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 144,236 shares in the company, valued at $6,255,515.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. TheStreet upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. Compass Point upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (down from $52.00) on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.14.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of USB stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $40.96. 7,079,857 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,815,390. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $27.27 and a 12 month high of $45.85. The company has a market cap of $63.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $42.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.01. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The company had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.79%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 64.90%.

U.S. Bancorp 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.