Principle Wealth Partners LLC Sells 5,250 Shares of U.S. Bancorp $USB

Principle Wealth Partners LLC lowered its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 14.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,250 shares during the quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $1,431,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of USB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 141,230,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,962,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,393,383 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 19,907,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $773,268,000 after purchasing an additional 422,050 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.6% in the first quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,889,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $628,614,000 after purchasing an additional 513,875 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,679,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $535,312,000 after purchasing an additional 104,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 10.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,012,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $464,953,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,509 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on USB shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated a “positive” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Friday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.55.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

NYSE:USB opened at $47.30 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $48.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.97. U.S. Bancorp has a one year low of $35.18 and a one year high of $53.98. The company has a market cap of $73.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.06.

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

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 26,909 shares of the company’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 represents a 10.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Andrew Cecere sold 140,445 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were 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 $63,041,584.76. This trade represents 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.

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.