E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Trims Stock Holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB reduced its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $1,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1,438.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,263,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,853,000 after acquiring an additional 2,116,175 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 313.8% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,698,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,903,000 after purchasing an additional 2,046,522 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 88.9% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,331,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,198,000 after buying an additional 1,097,179 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,941,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,284,000 after buying an additional 967,143 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,846,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $271,806,000 after buying an additional 925,073 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on USB shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 target price on U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price 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. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value of $1,225,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:USB opened at $47.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $74.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.03. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $30.47 and a 52-week high of $50.47. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.83.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Company 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.