First County Bank CT Sells 4,011 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

First County Bank CT cut its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 17.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,011 shares during the period. First County Bank CT’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1,140.5% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 20,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $911,000 after buying an additional 18,739 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 48.2% in the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 9,903 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $1,353,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $262,000. Finally, BOKF NA raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 29.7% during the first quarter. BOKF NA now owns 229,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,107,000 after purchasing an additional 52,684 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total transaction of $1,225,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Up 1.3 %

U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $51.39 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.96. U.S. Bancorp has a 1-year low of $36.49 and a 1-year high of $52.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

USB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.22.

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.