M&G Plc Sells 238,238 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

M&G PLC cut its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) by 75.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 76,003 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 238,238 shares during the period. M&G PLC's holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $3,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in USB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 135,371,282 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,051,096,000 after acquiring an additional 502,776 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,228,444 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $564,869,000 after purchasing an additional 43,437 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,312,930 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $528,523,000 after purchasing an additional 94,841 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 2.7% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,376,977 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $491,364,000 after purchasing an additional 325,374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,852,013 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $478,118,000 after buying an additional 373,559 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

USB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded U.S. Bancorp from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $51.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.12.

Insider Activity

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 129,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of USB traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $50.21. The company had a trading volume of 8,615,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,218,101. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $78.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.02. U.S. Bancorp has a twelve month low of $33.61 and a twelve month high of $51.76. The company's 50-day moving average is $46.52 and its 200-day moving average is $43.36.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

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

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.