Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Decreases Holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT trimmed its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,000 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $3,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in USB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 135,371,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,051,096,000 after purchasing an additional 502,776 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% in 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 during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% in the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 94,841 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,478,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $376,295,000 after purchasing an additional 271,078 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 8,921,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,800,000 after purchasing an additional 23,826 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, Director Aleem Gillani bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $44.99 per share, for a total transaction of $449,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $449,900. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of USB stock opened at $45.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $70.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.04. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $30.47 and a 52-week high of $47.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company’s 50 day moving average is $44.22 and its 200 day moving average is $42.27.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.55% and a return on equity of 13.34%. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.43%. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

USB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.50 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.18.

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.