Diversify Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC cut its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,669 shares during the quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $1,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.8% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,686,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,769,000 after purchasing an additional 30,922 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.5% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 168,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,551,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 3.7% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 23.9% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 37,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,654,000 after purchasing an additional 7,131 shares during the period. Finally, FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 12.2% in the first quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,786 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on USB. UBS Group lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price 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 target price on U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price 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. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.87.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of USB stock opened at $48.69 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $46.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.97. U.S. Bancorp has a 52 week low of $30.88 and a 52 week high of $50.47. The company has a market cap of $75.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.89, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.03.

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

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.