Grandfield & Dodd LLC Sells 5,270 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC trimmed its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 5.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 84,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,270 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $3,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in USB. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 10.5% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 442,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,241,000 after acquiring an additional 42,197 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 37.3% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 23,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 6,450 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $6,889,000. West Family Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 21.7% during the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 6,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 1,128 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the third quarter worth $5,950,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 0.4 %

USB opened at $50.41 on Wednesday. U.S. Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $36.49 and a fifty-two week high of $51.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50-day moving average is $47.21 and its 200 day moving average is $43.86. 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. The company’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. Research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on USB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently 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.