Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) by 21.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,193 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,267 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $2,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,282,970 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,110,115,000 after acquiring an additional 819,805 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 32.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,913,931 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,922,784,000 after purchasing an additional 15,746,852 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,328,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,164,350,000 after buying an additional 1,796,336 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers increased its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% in 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 buying an additional 43,437 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,312,930 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $528,523,000 after buying an additional 94,841 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 129,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of USB traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $51.57. 6,357,614 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,233,312. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $37.81 and a 52-week high of $53.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.95. The company has a market cap of $80.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.03.

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

U.S. Bancorp announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. U.S. Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

USB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens increased their target price on 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. Citigroup upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $49.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Twelve investment 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, U.S. Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.27.

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.