U.S. Bancorp $USB Stake Reduced by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,289,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 286,314 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $189,997,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in USB. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $26,749,000. Profund Advisors LLC grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 8.3% in the third quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 16,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $925,000 after buying an additional 1,232 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 111,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,449,000 after buying an additional 2,139 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 4,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $660,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

NYSE USB opened at $59.47 on Monday. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $45.02 and a 52-week high of $66.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.03.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.02. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 18.85% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business had revenue of $8.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 5.30 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a $0.54 dividend. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 42.11%.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In other U.S. Bancorp news, CEO Gunjan Kedia sold 27,267 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.37, for a total transaction of $1,700,642.79. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 426,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,585,960.94. This represents a 6.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group raised U.S. Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Stephens lifted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on U.S. Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.21.

U.S. Bancorp Profile

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is a financial services holding company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association. U.S. Bank provides banking, lending, payment, investment and wealth-management services to individuals, businesses, institutions and government entities.

The company’s consumer and business banking operations offer deposit accounts, mortgages, home-equity and consumer loans, credit cards, small-business banking and commercial lending.