M&G Plc Cuts Stock Holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

M&G Plc cut its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 75.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 238,238 shares during the period. M&G Plc’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $3,496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $6,051,096,000 after purchasing an additional 502,776 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers raised its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% in the second quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,228,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $564,869,000 after buying an additional 43,437 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,312,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $528,523,000 after buying an additional 94,841 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,376,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,364,000 after buying an additional 325,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,852,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $478,118,000 after acquiring an additional 373,559 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on USB shares. Barclays boosted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. 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, October 24th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.12.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:USB opened at $50.21 on Friday. U.S. Bancorp has a one year low of $33.61 and a one year high of $51.76. The stock has a market cap of $78.35 billion, a PE ratio of 15.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $46.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.92 EPS 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 3.98%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 61.16%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total transaction of $1,225,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.