iSAM Funds UK Ltd Sells 10,473 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

iSAM Funds UK Ltd decreased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) by 54.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,877 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,473 shares during the quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd's holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 48,116 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,910,000 after buying an additional 2,179 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter worth $225,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 34.7% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 72,803 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,890,000 after purchasing an additional 18,760 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 297,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,805,000 after purchasing an additional 23,402 shares during the period. Finally, AHL Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $695,000. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value of $1,225,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 0.1 %

U.S. Bancorp stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $52.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,683,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,113,583. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $49.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.87. 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 has a 12 month low of $37.81 and a 12 month high of $53.98. The stock has a market cap of $81.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.03.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. U.S. Bancorp's revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. U.S. Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on USB. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut U.S. Bancorp from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $51.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised U.S. Bancorp from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.72.

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.