U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Shares Sold by Equity Investment Corp

Equity Investment Corp decreased its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,710,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,972 shares during the quarter. U.S. Bancorp makes up 2.6% of Equity Investment Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Equity Investment Corp’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $114,454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 59.4% in the 1st quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

USB has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays decreased their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $61.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.70.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, Director Aleem Gillani bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $37.32 per share, with a total value of $186,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 15,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $559,800. The trade was a 50.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of USB opened at $45.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. U.S. Bancorp has a one year low of $35.18 and a one year high of $53.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $44.59 and its 200-day moving average is $44.32.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.92 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 15.70%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 49.50%.

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.