Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Reduces Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. trimmed its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 253,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,811 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $10,050,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.9% during the second quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 65,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC now owns 5,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% during the first quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,715,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, Director Aleem Gillani bought 10,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $44.99 per share, for a total transaction of $449,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $449,900. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Up 0.7 %

USB stock traded up $0.30 on Friday, hitting $45.84. 339,558 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,304,171. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $43.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. U.S. Bancorp has a 12-month low of $30.47 and a 12-month high of $47.31. The stock has a market cap of $71.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 1.04.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.81 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 12.55%. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.28%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on USB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.50 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.23.

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.