Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 293,146 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,686,718 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 293,146 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.11% of U.S. Bancorp worth $80,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1,088.9% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 535 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 70.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 603 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

USB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Compass Point raised their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America decreased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $53.02.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Andrew Cecere sold 102,044 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.25, for a total transaction of $4,821,579.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,230,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,132,431. This represents a 7.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 66,317 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total value of $3,114,246.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 209,482 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,837,274.72. The trade was a 24.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 219,812 shares of company stock valued at $10,385,665 over the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of USB stock opened at $38.74 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.46. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $37.81 and a 52-week high of $53.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.02.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 14.75%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.16%. U.S. Bancorp's payout ratio is 52.77%.

U.S. Bancorp Company Profile

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.

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