Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 894 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 135,371,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,051,096,000 after acquiring an additional 502,776 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% during the second 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 grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 2.7% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,376,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,364,000 after buying an additional 325,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,852,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $478,118,000 after buying an additional 373,559 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

USB stock opened at $50.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $78.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.58. U.S. Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $36.21 and a fifty-two week high of $51.76.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.16%.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total transaction of $1,225,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.12.

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.