HM Payson & Co. Sells 640 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

HM Payson & Co. decreased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 640 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 135,371,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,051,096,000 after acquiring an additional 502,776 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,228,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $564,869,000 after purchasing an additional 43,437 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,312,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $528,523,000 after purchasing an additional 94,841 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 325,374 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.9% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,478,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,295,000 after buying an additional 271,078 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of USB stock opened at $47.84 on Friday. U.S. Bancorp has a 52 week low of $32.39 and a 52 week high of $50.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $46.23 and its 200-day moving average is $43.05.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on USB shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price objective on U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Thirteen 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value of $1,225,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.