Panagora Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in U.S. Bancorp $USB

Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 43.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 979,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 295,069 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned 0.06% of U.S. Bancorp worth $52,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 146,376,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,810,665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,828,404 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,701,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,755,083,000 after purchasing an additional 522,368 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,679,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,002,518,000 after purchasing an additional 443,646 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $1,887,497,000. Finally, Davis Selected Advisers raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 22,041,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,176,148,000 after purchasing an additional 2,610,197 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.00, for a total transaction of $2,280,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 207,251 shares in the company, valued at $11,813,307. This represents a 16.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Venkatachari Dilip sold 34,522 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 51,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,847,731.84. This represents a 40.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on USB. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $58.00 to $57.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.29.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $57.78 on Tuesday. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $42.55 and a 52-week high of $61.19. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.55% and a net margin of 18.01%.The business had revenue of $7.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 5.07 EPS for the current year.

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.