U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Stock Holdings Decreased by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management reduced its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 14.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,634 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. HSBC upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut U.S. Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.02.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of USB stock opened at $41.69 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.64. The company has a market capitalization of $65.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. U.S. Bancorp has a 1-year low of $28.53 and a 1-year high of $45.85.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 12.13%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.70%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 64.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,582 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp 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.