Foster & Motley Inc. Lowers Stock Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Foster & Motley Inc. lessened its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 20.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,978 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on USB. StockNews.com lowered U.S. Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.14.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE USB opened at $41.61 on Thursday. U.S. Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $27.27 and a fifty-two week high of $45.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $64.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.04.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.01. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The company had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 64.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,582 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.47, for a total value of $895,005.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 164,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,837,573.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,582 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.47, for a total transaction of $895,005.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,837,573.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 26,583 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.37, for a total transaction of $1,152,904.71. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 144,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,255,515.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.