Wealthfront Advisers LLC Trims Stock Position in U.S. Bancorp $USB

Wealthfront Advisers LLC lessened its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 297,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,625 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $13,479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. New Hampshire Trust lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 8.3% in the second quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 9,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 12.4% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 63,097 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,855,000 after buying an additional 6,984 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,035,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 8.7% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after buying an additional 3,163 shares during the period. Finally, MQS Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 220.5% during the second quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 17,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 11,909 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on USB. Morgan Stanley reissued a “positive” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 26,909 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.86, for a total value of $1,260,955.74. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 226,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,607,932.50. This trade represents a 10.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Andrew Cecere sold 140,445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.34, for a total transaction of $6,508,221.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 1,360,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,041,584.76. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $48.31 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $48.10 and a 200-day moving average of $45.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.05, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.06. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $35.18 and a 52-week high of $53.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 16.89% and a return on equity of 13.34%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

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.