Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Reduces Stock Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $4,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 1,088.9% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 222.7% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 70.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 92.8% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 66,317 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total value of $3,114,246.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 209,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,837,274.72. This represents a 24.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.59, for a total transaction of $1,427,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 99,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,749,006.10. This trade represents a 23.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 219,812 shares of company stock worth $10,385,665 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

USB opened at $47.52 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average is $48.88 and its 200-day moving average is $47.50. The stock has a market cap of $74.13 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.04. U.S. Bancorp has a twelve month low of $37.81 and a twelve month high of $53.98.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 14.75%. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 52.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. DA Davidson upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.21.

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.