Legal & General Group Plc Raises Position in U.S. Bancorp $USB

Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,441,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 202,725 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $503,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 146,376,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,810,665,000 after buying an additional 1,828,404 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,179,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,378,808,000 after buying an additional 648,943 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 22,041,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,176,148,000 after buying an additional 2,610,197 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 17,758,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $858,290,000 after buying an additional 1,189,525 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,438,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $794,486,000 after buying an additional 172,645 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:USB opened at $54.85 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $54.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.75. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $42.21 and a 12 month high of $61.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.00.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 18.01% and a return on equity of 13.55%. The firm had revenue of $7.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore raised their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $58.00 to $57.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other U.S. Bancorp news, EVP Venkatachari Dilip sold 34,522 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $1,916,661.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 51,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,847,731.84. The trade was a 40.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 40,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.00, for a total transaction of $2,280,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 207,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,813,307. This represents a 16.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

About U.S. Bancorp

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is a bank holding company and the parent of U.S. Bank, a national commercial bank that provides a wide range of banking, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services. The company operates through consumer and business banking, commercial banking, payment services, and wealth management segments. Its product set includes deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage origination and servicing, credit and debit card services, treasury and cash management, merchant processing, and institutional and trust services.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.