Pitcairn Co. Reduces Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Pitcairn Co. lowered its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 11.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,821 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $2,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in USB. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 222.7% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp 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 directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 2.1 %

USB opened at $52.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.05. U.S. Bancorp has a 1-year low of $36.49 and a 1-year high of $52.69. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 12th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on USB shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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, November 15th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.